S&P Places Windstream (WIN) Ratings on CreditWatch Negative

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it placed its ratings, including its 'BB-' corporate credit rating, on Windstream (NASDAQ: WIN) on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The CreditWatch placement follows the company's announcement that it had authorized a $75 million share repurchase program that will expire on Dec. 31, 2016.

"We believe that the stock buyback program, coupled with weak operating and financial performance, could make it challenging for the company to achieve our threshold of adjusted debt to EBITDA below 5.5x over the next year, depending on any mitigating actions that Windstream takes to reduce leverage," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Allyn Arden.

The CreditWatch placement reflects the potential for a one-notch downgrade or affirmation. We plan to resolve the credit watch over the next few months and will likely lower our ratings on Windstream, unless management presents us with a credible plan to reduce leverage to below 5.5x and improve free operating cash flow to debt above 5% on a sustained basis.

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