The only Turkish company with Baa3 investment grade by Moody’s

The only Turkish company with Baa3 investment grade by Moody’s

Moody’s Investors Service has today assigned a “Baa3” long-term issuer rating to Anadolu Efes with a “Stable” outlook. This rating reflects (1) the Company’s leading position in the Turkish market, with a ca. 85% volume share of the domestic beer market; (2) its strengthened position in Russia following the merger with SAB Miller’s Russian operations; and (3) the potential to extract synergies as well as the moderate debt/EBITDA leverage of between 2x and 3x for its core beer operations.

Anadolu Efes not only becomes the first investment grade Turkish corporate by Moody’s but also the first corporate that had creditworthiness rated above the Turkish government (rated Ba1/positive). This also represents the first time any Turkish corporate has received investment grade rating from two seperate credit rating agencies (please refer to our announcement dated June 14, 2012 regarding Standard & Poor’s revision in Anadolu Efes’ Long Term Corporate Credit Rating to Investment Grade BBB-/STABLE from BB+/POSITIVE).

The rating outlook is “Stable” and assumes low event risk. Despite volatility in raw material prices and foreign-currency movements, according to Moody’s, Anadolu Efes should be able to leverage its strong market position in Turkey as well as benefit from synergies from the combination of its Russian operations with those of SABMiller. The “Stable” outlook also includes the expectation that Anadolu Efes will increase maturity of debts and will increasingly fund debt at the Anadolu Efes level.