Media firm’s rating is dropped

Saying it had expected Univision Communications Inc. to gain more on the sale of its music division, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s this week downgraded the corporate credit ratings of the Spanish-language media company to a B-minus from a B.

Univision last week announced it had reached an agreement to sell its music division to Universal Music Group for $153 million, of which $113 million is due to Univision upon closing.

That amount was “significantly lower than expected” and not enough to repay a $500-million bridge loan that matures in March 2009, S&P; said.

“Univision plans to sell additional assets and investments to repay the remainder of the bridge loan,” wrote S&P; credit analyst Michael Altberg.

A spokesperson for Univision declined to comment on the S&P; report.

Last year, a group of private investors including Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban bought New York-based Univision for $12.3 billion. To finance the highly leveraged transaction, the new owners, which also include Providence Equity Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Texas Pacific Group, took on nearly $10 billion in debt.

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meg.james@latimes.com