Fitch Affirms Welsh Road Funding LLC at 'F1+sf'

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings has affirmed the rating for Welsh Road Funding LLC (Welsh Road) Series 2010-1 as follows:

--$1,500,000,000 commercial paper (CP) notes at 'F1+sf'.

Welsh Road was established to issue CP, the proceeds of which are used to purchase variable funding note (VFN) advances issued by Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC (Berkadia or the VFN Issuer). The proceeds from the issuance of the VFNs are used by Berkadia for general business purposes. Payments under the VFNs are covered by a $2.5 billion surety from Columbia Insurance Company (Columbia, Insurer Financial Strength rating 'AA+'/Stable Outlook), which is backed by a corporate guarantee from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BHI, or the guarantor, Issuer Default Rating 'AA-'/Stable Outlook).

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The rating of the CP notes is directly linked to that of BHI, as guarantor of the unconditional and irrevocable surety issued by its subsidiary, Columbia. BHI's Long-Term 'AA-' rating correlates to a Short-Term 'F1+' rating. Additional information on long- and short-term ratings correlations can be found at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

On March 31, 2016, a Fourth Amended and Restated Series 2010-1 Supplement was executed, which reduced the CP issuance cap to $1.5 billion from $2.5 billion beginning March 31, 2016, less fees and expenses. The surety limit will remain at $2.5 billion through March 31, 2017, after which time it will be reduced to $1.5 billion through the transaction termination. Finally a "no change in control" clause was added as a condition precedent to the issuance of CP.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

The rating remains sensitive to the rating migration of BHI. A Long-term 'AA-' rating correlates to an 'F1+' Short-Term rating, but lower long-term ratings have a correlation that may overlap multiple short-term ratings. Specifically, a one-notch downgrade of BHI's Long-Term IDR to 'A+' from 'AA-' would likely have no impact on the current rating; however, a downgrade to 'A-' would result in an 'F1sf' or 'F2sf' rating. Such a determination would be decided by a ratings committee, taking into consideration input provided by Fitch's Corporates Group regarding the short-term financial position of BHI. Additional information on long- and short-term ratings correlation can be found at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

USE OF THIRD-PARTY DUE DILIGENCE PURSUANT TO SEC RULE 17G-10

No third-party due diligence was provided or reviewed in relation to this rating action.

Additional information is available at www.fitchratings.com.

Applicable Criteria

Counterparty Criteria for Structured Finance and Covered Bonds (pub. 01 Sep 2016)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/886006

Global Rating Criteria for Single- and Multi-Name Credit-Linked Notes (pub. 08 Mar 2016)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/878513

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria (pub. 27 Jun 2016)

https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/883130

Additional Disclosures

Dodd-Frank Rating Information Disclosure Form

https://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/press_releases/content/ridf_frame.cfm?pr_id=1011479

Solicitation Status

https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1011479

Endorsement Policy

https://www.fitchratings.com/jsp/creditdesk/PolicyRegulation.faces?context=2&detail=31

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160909005897/en/

Fitch Ratings
Primary Analyst
Shashi Srikantan
Director
+1-212-908-0393
Fitch Ratings, Inc.
33 Whitehall Street
New York, NY 10004
or
Committee Chairperson
Kevin Corrigan
Senior Director
+1-212-908-0156
or
Media Relations
Sandro Scenga, +1 212-908-0278
[email protected]

Source: Fitch Ratings

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