DBRS Finalizes Provisional Rating on Alliance Grain Traders Inc.’s Senior Secured High-Yield Notes

DBRS has today finalized the provisional rating of B, with a Stable trend, on Alliance Grain Traders Inc.’s (AGT or the Company) Senior Secured High-Yield Notes (the Notes). After its review of all documentation associated with the recent offering, DBRS has confirmed that all terms of the issuance of the Notes were consistent with those contemplated at the time the provisional rating was assigned on January 30, 2013.

The Notes issued totalled $125 million, maturing February 14, 2018. Proceeds from the Notes were used primarily to refinance existing indebtedness and for general corporate purposes. The Notes are senior secured indebtedness of AGT, secured by second-priority liens (junior to the first-priority liens securing the credit facilities of Alliance Pulse Processors Inc., a subsidiary of AGT) on substantially all of the assets of AGT and the Secured Guarantors, excluding any share ownership in the Unsecured Guarantors. Terms of the Notes include Optional Redemption, Equity Claw-Back and Change of Control Provisions, as well as other negative covenants limiting the Company’s ability to:

-- Make restricted payments
-- Incur additional indebtedness
-- Permit contractual restrictions
-- Create or permit to exist liens
-- Engage in transactions with affiliates
-- Transfer and sell assets
-- Alter the business activities conducted
-- Consolidate, amalgamate and merge with another company; and
-- Designate restricted and unrestricted subsidiaries.

For additional information on DBRS’s view of the credit quality of AGT, or its recent debt issuance, please refer to the DBRS report dated January 30, 2013.

Notes:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The related regulatory disclosures pursuant to the National Instrument 25-101 Designated Rating Organizations are hereby incorporated by reference and can be found by clicking on the link to the right under Related Research or by contacting us at info@dbrs.com.

The applicable methodologies are Rating the Consumer Products Industry and DBRS Recovery Ratings for Non-Investment Grade Corporate Issuers, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.