Moody’s pins ‘junk’ rating on bond issue of Batista company

Credit agency Moody’s has slapped a “junk” rating on Eike Batista’s OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA as the company goes to market with $2bn of bonds to fund its drilling operations offshore Brazil.

The ratings service has assigned a “B1” rating to the seven-year unsecured notes, which OGX has been marketing on a roadshow this week.

“OGX’s ‘B1’ rating reflects the company’s large, world-scale resource base, which provides excellent reserves and production-growth potential,” wrote Moody’s senior analyst Gretchen French.