• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Fitch Places Four Gas Prepaid Transactions Rated 'A+' on Rating Watch Negative

Posted on: Thursday, 10 July 2008, 18:00 CDT

Fitch places four gas prepaid revenue bond transactions rated 'A+' on Rating Watch Negative, as follows:

--Main Street Natural Gas, Inc. Gas Project Revenue Bonds, Series 2006B;

--Main Street Natural Gas, Inc. Gas Project Revenue Bonds, Series 2007A

--Roseville Natural Gas Financing Authority Gas Revenue Bonds, Series 2007A;

--Long Beach Bond Finance Authority Natural Gas Purchase Revenue Bonds, Series 2007A and B.

The rating action follows Fitch's placement on July 9, 2008 of the long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (ML) and its subsidiaries on Rating Watch Negative. The ML rating action follows a Fitch review of the investment banking industry and assessment of ML market and credit risk exposures, with the expectation of additional mark-to-market losses through the remainder of fiscal year 2008. For more information see the Fitch Ratings web site www.fitchratings.com.

The long-term ratings and Outlook for the affected gas prepay bonds is determined by Fitch's assessment of each structure, the role of each counterparty in the structure, and their credit quality, including ML (IDR of 'A+'). In each case, bond proceeds were used to fund a natural gas prepay transaction between the issuer and Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI), the gas supplier. ML is the guarantor of MLCI's obligations, as gas supplier and remarketer.

For additional details regarding each of the affected transactions, please see the corresponding reports available on the Fitch Ratings web site www.fitchratings.com.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category