OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings has assigned a long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'B-' to OneMain Financial Holdings, LLC (OneMain) and a 'B/RR3' rating to OneMain's existing senior unsecured debt. The Rating Outlook is Stable.

Today's ratings actions follow the completion of the acquisition of OneMain by Springleaf Holdings Inc., which was subsequently renamed OneMain Holdings Inc. (OneMain Holdings).

KEY RATING DRIVERS - IDR AND SENIOR UNSECURED DEBT
The equalization of OneMain's IDR with those assigned to OneMain Holdings and Springleaf Finance Corporation (SFC) reflects Fitch's view of OneMain as a core subsidiary. OneMain is wholly-owned by OneMain Holdings, with shared management and strategy, and an expectation that operations are to be fully integrated with the legacy Springleaf over the longer term. Also longer-term, capital and funding are expected to be highly fungible throughout the combined organization, once existing OneMain bonds with restrictive covenants have matured or otherwise been retired.

The 'B' rating assigned to OneMain existing senior unsecured debt is one notch higher than OneMain's 'B-' IDR, reflecting Fitch's expectation of above average recoveries for the instruments, as indicated by the Recovery Rating (RR) of 'RR3', which implies a stressed recovery of 51-70%.

The unsecured debt ratings also reflect the restrictive covenants within OneMain's existing bond indenture that limit the level of unsecured indebtedness OneMain can incur and the outflow of capital from OneMain for so long as the existing bonds remain outstanding. As a result, OneMain's stand-alone leverage is expected to remain considerably lower than the consolidated entity. These positive factors are counterbalanced by the ability of the holding company to extract up to 50% of OneMain cumulative net income generated from 4Q'14 in addition to other one-time and annual payments allowable under the bond indenture.

RATING SENSITIVITIES - IDRs AND SENIOR UNSECURED DEBT
OneMain's IDR is equalized with those assigned to OneMain Holdings and SFC and therefore would be expected to move in tandem with any changes in Fitch's view of the consolidated credit risk profile of the overall organization.

Downside risks for the overall organization include the integration of OneMain, elevated leverage, reduced liquidity, refinance risk associated with SFC's 2017 debt maturities and on-going regulatory scrutiny.

Longer-term positive drivers include successful integration of OneMain, de-leveraging improved debt maturity profile, and sustained improvements in profitability and operating performance.

The rating assigned to OneMain's senior unsecured debt is one notch above OneMain's IDR and would be expected to move in tandem with any change in OneMain's IDR, absent a material change in the recovery prospects for the senior unsecured notes, as expressed by the RR, or material changes to OneMain's bond indenture. Were OneMain to incur material additional secured debt, such that the recovery prospects for the senior unsecured notes were viewed as average or below average, this could result in a downgrade of the notes and the RR.

For more information on the key rating drivers and rating sensitivities for the consolidated organization, please see the press release entitled 'Fitch Downgrades Springleaf to 'B-' Following Completion of OneMain Acquisition' dated Nov. 16, 2015.

Fitch has assigned the following ratings:

OneMain Financial Holdings, LLC.
--Long-term IDR 'B-'.
--Senior unsecured debt 'B/RR3'.

The Rating Outlook is Stable.