General Mills Inc.'s Proposed U.S.-Dollar Denominated Senior Unsecured Notes Rated 'BBB'
SAN FRANCISCO (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 10, 2023--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'BBB' issue-level rating to General Mills Inc.'s proposed U.S. dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes (final amount and maturity to be determined). The notes will rank pari passu with the company's existing senior unsecured notes. General Mills will use the net proceeds from these notes to repay its $400 million floating-rate notes due October 2023 and for general corporate purposes. We expect the transaction to be leverage neutral. As of the first quarter ended Aug. 27, 2023, the company had about $12.3 billion of funded debt outstanding, including about $529 million of commercial paper. All of our existing ratings on General Mills, including our 'BBB' long-term issuer credit rating, are unchanged. The outlook is stable.
General Mills holds a strong competitive position in the packaged food industry supported by its portfolio of well-known brands across multiple categories and channels; history of brand support, product renovation, and innovations; and ongoing productivity that maintains its good margins and cash flow despite near-term volume pressures and lingering inflationary headwinds. We expect General Mills' cash flow will remain strong and forecast it will maintain leverage at about 3x or below after factoring in shareholder returns and potential tuck-in acquisitions.
For the latest on General Mills, please see our full analysis published Aug. 3, 2023, on RatingsDirect.
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Related Research
Full Analysis: General Mills Inc., Aug. 3, 2023
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| Primary Credit Analyst: | Bea Y Chiem, San Francisco + 1 (415) 371 5070; bea.chiem@spglobal.com |
| Secondary Contact: | Arpi Gupta, CFA, New York + 1 212 438 1676; arpi.gupta@spglobal.com |
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