OREANDA-NEWS. S&P Global Ratings said today that it raised its corporate credit rating on Memorial Resource Development Corp. (MRD) to 'BB+' from 'B'. At the same time, we removed all our ratings on the company from CreditWatch, where we placed them with positive implications on May 17, 2016. We subsequently withdrew our corporate credit rating on MRD at Range Resources Corp.'s request.

We also withdrew our issue-level ratings on MRD's revolving credit facility and senior unsecured notes because the issues have been almost entirely redeemed or refinanced by Range, with only about $1 million of MRD's senior unsecured notes outstanding.

"The rating actions follow Range's announcement that it has closed its acquisition of MRD," said S&P Global Ratings' credit analyst Christine Besset. "The upgrade reflects our assessment that MRD is a core subsidiary of Range." MRD operates in a line of business that is integral to Range's strategy, and we expect that MRD will be fully integrated into Range's assets. In connection with the merger, Range has terminated MRD's revolving credit facility and refinanced MRD's senior unsecured notes almost entirely.