DBRS Downgrades Senior Unsecured Debt and Discontinues Issuer Rating of Shoppers Drug Mart

DBRS has today downgraded the Senior Unsecured Debt rating of Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation (Shoppers or the Company) to BBB from A (low). This removes the Company’s Senior Unsecured Debt rating from Under Review with Negative Implications. This rating action follows the successful acquisition of the Company by Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw; rated BBB, Stable by DBRS) and reflects Loblaw’s guarantee of Shoppers’s outstanding senior unsecured notes.

DBRS has also discontinued the Company’s Issuer Rating and Commercial Paper rating and removed them from Under Review with Negative Implications. All ratings were placed Under Review with Negative Implications on July 15, 2013. The discontinuation of the Issuer Rating and Commercial Paper rating follow the successful acquisition of the Company by Loblaw.

Notes:
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.

This rating is endorsed by DBRS Ratings Limited for use in the European Union.

The applicable methodology is Rating Companies in the Merchandising Industry, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.