Birds Eye owner Nomad Foods took on additional debt to fund the €225 million acquisition this year of Irish frozen pizza-maker Goodfellas, before receiving the threat of a credit downgrade on Monday after sealing another leveraged deal. Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the outlook on its rating on Nomad Foods creditworthiness on Monday to “negative” from “stable” after the company announced the new €240 million debt-funded purchase of UK-based frozen food manufacturer of Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes Aunt Bessies. The firm already has a “BB-” stance on Nomad, which is three levels below what it considers “investment grade”. S&P disclosed that Nomad took on €100 million of incremental debt to fund the Goodfellas deal, completed in April, as well as using €125 million of cash it had on hand. “This is well above our guideline of 4.5x-5 times for the current rating,” it said.

Source: The Irish Times June 04, 2018 15:23 UTC