Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally moved closer to reclaimingFord Motor Co.'s valuable blue oval logo, headquarters building andMustang trademark yesterday, as Fitch Ratings raised theautomaker's credit rating to investment grade.

Fitch had ranked the second-largest U.S. automaker's debt asjunk since December 2005. With yesterday's upgrade, Ford now needsonly Standard & Poor's or Moody's Investors Service to followsuit to regain control of the major assets it put up as collateralto avoid the bankruptcy that engulfed other U.S.-basedautomakers.

The higher rating “is an important milestone for the company andcan have real strategic implications on the funding side,” AdamJonas, a Morgan Stanley analyst, wrote in a note.

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world cas studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.