International: Eros STX Global Corporation (NYSE:EROS) (“Eros STX”), a global entertainment company, announced today that Eros International Media Limited (“EIML”), its majority-owned Indian subsidiary, has received a long-term credit rating of ‘B’ from Acuité Ratings & Research Limited (Acuité) on its bank facilities. The outlook is ‘Stable’.
Acuité has assigned its long-term rating of ‘ACUITÉ B’ (read as ACUITÉ B) on the INR 4.65 billion (approximately USD $62 million) outstanding bank facilities of EIML with a ‘Stable’ outlook. All other outstanding credit ratings are in the process of being withdrawn, and the Acuité credit rating will be the primary credit rating for all EIML credit facilities and borrowings. Acuité published their rating report on EIML today, and a copy of the report can be found on their website. In its rating press release, Acuité noted “The company will continue to benefit from its established brand position and large content library. The outlook maybe revised to ‘Positive’ in case the liquidity position of the company is significantly improved”.
Acuité Ratings & Research Limited (formerly known as SMERA Ratings Limited) is a full service credit rating agency with registration from SEBI and the accreditation from RBI (as an External Credit Assessment Institution under Basel II or New Capital Adequacy Framework) received in 2011 and 2012, respectively, and is based in Mumbai. Acuité assigned its first bond rating in 2012 and has a long track record in rating the entire range of debt instruments including Corporate Bonds, Commercial Paper and Bank Loan Ratings (BLR). Acuité’s principal shareholders are the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Private Limited (D&B). Acuité has assigned more than 8,000 credit ratings to various securities, bonds, debt instruments and bank facilities of entities throughout India and across a wide cross section of industries.
Commenting on the development, Pradeep Dwivedi, CEO- India at Eros International Media Limited said, “We are pleased with Acuité’s rating initiation and assessment of our business. We appreciate their recognition of the company’s strong market position, improving financial profile and operational resilience despite the impact of the pandemic. We believe this is also a testament to our long-standing lender relationships and reflects the support of our parent company Eros STX Global Corporation. We believe we are well positioned to support the accelerating growth rate of the business including our sustained focus on our streaming business – Eros Now”.
