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A rating is a "passport" to a wider audience of creditors and investors. It will help attract the international capital that a company needs to fulfill its growth and profit goals.
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A rating opens up an important alternative financing option, often more cost-effective and longer term than bank loans.
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It will enable the company to estimate borrowing costs more accurately.
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It prompts foreign investors to take notice of the company since an independent assessment has been done.
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A rating will draw the company into the global financial and investing community and help keep company management current with international standards of disclosure.
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A rating exercise provides a taste of the kind of international scrutiny the company must expect in today’s interdependent and globalizing world. It forces a certain awareness and discipline on management.
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Having no rating at all implies to investors that the company cannot get a rating and/or must have defaulted in the past.
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A first-time rating would be a path-breaking event and an important legacy for the current management of the company.
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Requesting a rating avoids an imposed unsolicited rating and allows you to be in control of the process.
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Using a ratings advisor greatly increases the odds your first rating will be optimal, i.e., the best possible given your individual circumstances.