{"id":777033540,"date":"2025-10-23T09:19:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T12:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777033540"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:54:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:54:06","slug":"moodys-raises-questions-over-gentings-debt-funded-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/moodys-raises-questions-over-gentings-debt-funded-expansion","title":{"rendered":"Moody\u2019s raises questions over Genting\u2019s debt-funded expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The ratings agency warns that the Malaysian conglomerate\u2019s plan to buy out Genting Malaysia could weaken its financial profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Malaysia.- <strong>Moody\u2019s Ratings<\/strong> has placed <strong>Genting Berhad<\/strong> and two of its subsidiaries, Genting Overseas Holdings and Genting Singapore, on review for a possible downgrade, citing concerns over the group\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/genting-berhads-us1-6bn-bid-to-privatise-genting-malaysia-sparks-optimism-and-concerns\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/genting-berhads-us1-6bn-bid-to-privatise-genting-malaysia-sparks-optimism-and-concerns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">debt-funded bid to take full control of Genting Malaysia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The RM6.3bn (US$1.4bn) offer to privatise Genting Malaysia by <strong>acquiring the remaining 50.6 per cent<\/strong> will be largely financed through new borrowings, which could push Genting\u2019s leverage ratio to around 5.1 times EBITDA in 2025, well above its 4.0 downgrade threshold, Moody&#8217;s said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Analyst <strong>Anthony Prayugo <\/strong>said the transaction would \u201cdelay any meaningful debt reduction\u201d, warning that the company\u2019s credit quality could weaken materially if it fails to outline a credible plan to reduce leverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Genting\u2019s shares have gained more than 20 per cent since announcing the takeover amid optimism surrounding its <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/genting-malaysia-tables-us5-5bn-new-york-casino-bid\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/genting-malaysia-tables-us5-5bn-new-york-casino-bid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">potential bid for a downstate New York casino licence<\/a>. Analysts at CIMB Securities recently described the licence as \u201cnearly in the bag\u201d after MGM Empire City withdrew. While several investment banks maintain \u201cBuy\u201d recommendations, CreditSights and Moody\u2019s have flagged higher refinancing risks, particularly around Genting\u2019s US$1.5bn bond due in 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/05\/Genting-Malaysia-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/genting-berhads-us1-6bn-bid-to-privatise-genting-malaysia-sparks-optimism-and-concerns'>Genting Berhad\u2019s US$1.6bn bid to privatise Genting Malaysia sparks optimism and concerns<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ratings agency warns that the Malaysian conglomerate\u2019s plan to buy out Genting Malaysia could weaken its financial profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":32939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Moody's Ratings has placed Genting Berhad and its subsidiaries under review for a possible downgrade, citing concerns over its debt-funded RM6.3bn bid to privatize Genting Malaysia. This transaction is projected to elevate Genting's leverage ratio significantly, potentially exceeding its downgrade threshold and delaying debt reduction. Concurrently, the group's shares have seen gains driven by optimism surrounding a potential downstate New York casino licence bid.","focusai_entities":"Moody's Ratings, Genting Berhad, Genting Overseas Holdings, Genting Singapore, Genting Malaysia, Anthony Prayugo, CIMB Securities, MGM Empire City, CreditSights","focusai_location":"Malaysia, New York, United States","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Genting's Leverage Plan?","query":"What specific deleveraging strategies and timelines is Genting Berhad outlining to Moody's to mitigate the projected 5.1x EBITDA leverage ratio post-Genting Malaysia privatization?"},{"label":"New York Licence Impact?","query":"How would the successful acquisition of a downstate New York casino licence impact Genting's overall financial profile, debt servicing capacity, and strategic capital allocation, particularly concerning the US$1.5bn bond due in 2027?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16333],"tags":[24657,19394,226],"class_list":["post-777033540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-genting-berhad","tag-genting-malaysia","tag-malaysia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777033540"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777033563,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033540\/revisions\/777033563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777033540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777033540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777033540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}