Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) has reached a preliminary agreement with state-run bank Banco do Brasil (BB), which sets the terms and commercial conditions to roll out the company’s debt, CSN said this week. BB is one of CSN’s largest creditors.
CSN said it also negotiated a similar debt restructuring with state-owned bank Caixa Economica Federal (CEF), another major creditor.
CSN said BB and CEF account for nearly half the company’s total debt of about BRL 28 billion.
Credit rating agency Moody’s has upgraded the global scale ratings of CSN to B3 from Caa2 as well as the company’s national scale ratings to B2.br from Caa2.br, following the deal.
Moody’s changed CSN’s outlook from negative to stable.
“The upgrade of CSN's ratings to B3 reflects primarily the conclusion of the refinancing of CSN's bank debt with Banco do Brasil and the expectation that the company will conclude the refinancing of its maturities with Caixa Economica Federal soon,” the agency said.
“The debt refinancing removes more immediate liquidity pressures and allows CSN to focus on additional measures to address the upcoming debt maturities, mostly concentrated in 2019 and 2020 (BRL 12.5 billion in total, reflecting the debt refinancing with BB and CEF) and including the USD 1.95 billion related to the 2019 and 2020 senior unsecured notes,” the credit rating agency noted.