Moody's and Standard & Poor's Upgrade Mylan to Investment Grade
Credit Ratings
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq:
MYL) today reported that Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has
upgraded the company's credit ratings to Baa3 from Ba1 and that
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services ("S&P") has upgraded the
company's credit ratings to BBB- from BB+.
Mylan also announced today that its Board of Directors has
approved the repurchase of up to $500
million of the company's common stock in the open market or
through other methods.
According to Moody's: "Mylan's Baa3 senior unsecured rating
reflects its strong global position in generic pharmaceuticals, its
robust growth outlook and the expectation that financial policies
will be consistent with an investment-grade rating. Mylan has
articulated a financial policy in which it does not expect leverage
to exceed the covenant limits in its credit facility (currently
4.25 times) and in which deleveraging to 3.0 times would be
accomplished within 18 months of acquisitions which resulted in a
leverage increase. The rating also reflects Mylan's strong
geographic diversification and its robust generic pipeline
capabilities. Further, the rating is supported by favorable
industry fundamentals based on the large number of branded
pharmaceutical products facing patent expirations in the coming
years as well as global demographic factors driving drug
utilization."
According to S&P: "With a large global footprint and a full
generic drug pipeline, Mylan is also well positioned to capitalize
on the opportunities in the global generic space over the next
three years... A broad product portfolio lessens the risk that any
one product setback could significantly affect operations...
[W]e believe that the company has the capacity to make a richly
valued $4 billion acquisition within
the context of the current rating."
Mylan's Chief Financial Officer John
Sheehan commented, "We are pleased that Moody's and S&P
have each continued to recognize Mylan's long-standing commitment
to financial discipline and a strong capital structure. We also are
pleased by their recognition of Mylan's strong operating
performance and ability to generate significant free cash flows.
All of these factors have allowed us to accelerate our
deleveraging, meet and exceed our long-term leverage target of 3.0
to 1, and achieve our current 2.6 to 1 leverage ratio. The
agencies' upgrades of Mylan to investment grade credit ratings will
only further enhance Mylan's financial flexibility and capacity to
execute on our growth strategy."
Sheehan continued, "The further enhancements to our financial
flexibility provide Mylan with substantial capacity and a
tremendous range of options to continue to maximize shareholder
value. Not only does Mylan have the capacity to accelerate our
long-term growth targets by executing on appropriate, strategic
external opportunities, we also have capacity for additional share
repurchase programs such as the one announced today."
This press release includes statements that constitute
"forward-looking statements," including with regard to, among other
things, the company's future operations, growth, liquidity,
financial flexibility and share repurchase program. These
statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, actual
future results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could
cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not
limited to: the effect of any changes in customer and supplier
relationships and customer purchasing patterns; the ability to
attract and retain key personnel; changes in third-party
relationships; the impacts of competition; changes in economic and
financial conditions of the company's business; and uncertainties
and matters beyond the control of management. These cautionary
statements should be considered in connection with any subsequent
written or oral forward-looking statements that may be made by the
company or by persons acting on its behalf and in conjunction with
its periodic SEC filings. In addition, please refer to the
cautionary statements and risk factors set forth in the company's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2012, and in its other filings with
the SEC. The forward-looking statements herein are qualified
by those cautionary statements and risk factors. The company
undertakes no obligation to update statements herein for revisions
or changes after the date hereof.
The share repurchase program will be financed with cash on hand
and availability under the company's revolving credit and
receivables securitization facilities. The program will not require
any waivers or other exemptions under the company's credit facility
or under its bond indentures. The repurchase program does not
obligate the company to acquire any particular amount of common
stock and may be suspended without notice.
Mylan is a global pharmaceutical company committed to setting
new standards in health care. Working together around the world to
provide 7 billion people access to high quality medicine, we
innovate to satisfy unmet needs; make reliability and service
excellence a habit, do what's right, not what's easy and impact the
future through passionate global leadership. We offer a growing
portfolio of more than 1,100 generic pharmaceuticals and several
brand medications. In addition, we offer a wide range of
antiretroviral therapies, upon which approximately one-third of
HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries depend. We also operate
one of the largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers
and currently market products in approximately 150 countries and
territories. Our workforce of more than 18,000 people is dedicated
to improving the customer experience and increasing pharmaceutical
access to consumers around the world. But don't take our word for
it. See for yourself. See inside. mylan.com
SOURCE Mylan Inc.