Moody's Lowers Tribune Ratings To Bottom Rungs

By: Mark Fitzgerald With Tribune Co. filing for bankruptcy, Moody?s Investors Service downgraded its Corporate Family rating to Ca, a level below junk that indicates default.

Similarly, Moody?s dropped its Probability of Default rating to D, the lowest possible rating, from Caa2.

Moody?s said it will soon stop rating Tribune.

Its ratings on individual debentures, bonds and facilities indicate a high likely that creditors will recover little or nothing, except for Tribune?s guaranteed senior secured bank credit facility, which it said had a 36% chance of defaulting and leaving investors with nothing. The senior facility was nonetheless downgraded to Caa3 from Caa1.