PE Debt Watch (Upgrades & Downgrades)
As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Standard & Poor Ratings Services and Moody’s Investors Service. I also wanted to say that I love the formalities of the ratings agencies, particularly when it comes to bankrupt companies. I know it’s all very serious and important and part of procedure, but it seems so obvious and silly the way that, once a company defaults, Moody’s downgrades a its “Probability of Default” rating to “Default.” Something about the redundancy of it is amusing to me. Less amusing, unfortunately, is the company I’m referring to. Building materials manufacturer Atrium Cos. filed for bankruptcy yesterday; the company was backed by golden boys Golden Gate Capital and a firm called Kenner & Co.
