S&P Rts ViaSat's Prpd $275 Mil. Sr Notes B+; Recovery Rtg 4

Feb 22 (Reuters) - NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Standard & Poor's
Ratings Services
said today that it assigned its 'B+' issue-level rating and '4' recovery
rating to satellite services and equipment provider ViaSat Inc.'s proposed
$275 million of new senior notes due 2020. At the same time, we revised our
recovery rating on the company's existing senior notes due 2016 to '4' from
'3'. The revision reflects the increased amount of unsecured debt due to the
proposed new issuance, which leads to recovery expectations for this debt
falling to the 30%-50% range from the previous 50%-70% range. ViaSat's 'B+'
corporate credit rating remains unchanged. (For the complete recovery
analysis, please see the recovery report to be published following this
release on RatingsDirect.)

We expect proceeds to be used to repay borrowings under the company's
revolving credit facility, which had about $170 million outstanding as of Dec.
30, 2011, and to increase cash balances. As a result, we expect total debt to
increase by about $100 million, but debt to EBITDA will remain within our
parameters for the "aggressive" financial risk profile. The ratings on ViaSat
also reflect what we consider a "weak" business risk profile, which takes into
account the company's relatively recent entry into the consumer broadband
business, which we believe has somewhat uncertain demand prospects and
potential for more intense competition than the company's government systems
and commercial networks systems. The company has a sustainable position in the
government services segment providing defense network components, although we
believe U.S. federal budget pressures will constrain growth in this area.

RELATED CRITERIA AND RESEARCH
-- Methodology And Assumptions: Liquidity Descriptors For Global
Corporate Issuers, Sept. 28, 2011
-- Criteria Guidelines For Recovery Ratings, Aug. 10, 2009
-- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April 15, 2008

RATINGS LIST
ViaSat Inc.

Corporate credit rating B+/Stable/--

Rating Assigned
$275 mil. senior notes due 2020 B+
Recovery rating 4

Recovery Rating Revised To From
$275 mil. senior notes due 2016 B+
Recovery rating 4 3

Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect on
the Global Credit Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com. All ratings affected
by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at
www.standardandpoors.com. Use the Ratings search box located in the left
column.

Primary Credit Analyst: Catherine Cosentino, New York (1) 212-438-7828;
catherine_cosentino@standardandpoors.com
Secondary Contact: Naveen Sarma, New York (1) 212-438-7833;
naveen_sarma@standardandpoors.com

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Time USN User Headline
22/02/2012 WNA0 WE S&P RTS VIASAT'S PRPD $275 MIL. SR
13:27:14 730 SCRIP NOTES B+; RECOVERY RTG 4
T
NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Feb. 22, 2012--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services
said today that it assigned its 'B+' issue-level rating and '4' recovery rating
to satellite services and equipment provider ViaSat Inc.'s proposed $275 million
of new senior notes due 2020. At the same time, we revised our recovery rating
on the company's existing senior notes due 2016 to '4' from '3'. The revision
reflects the increased amount of unsecured debt due to the proposed new
issuance, which leads to recovery expectations for this debt falling to the
30%-50% range from the previous 50%-70% range. ViaSat's 'B+' corporate credit
rating remains unchanged. (For the complete recovery analysis, please see the
recovery report to be published following this release on RatingsDirect.) We
expect proceeds to be used to repay borrowings under the company's revolving
credit facility, which had about $170 million outstanding as of Dec. 30, 2011,
and to increase cash balances. As a result, we expect total debt to increase by
about $100 million, but debt to EBITDA will remain within our parameters for the
"aggressive" financial risk profile. The ratings on ViaSat also reflect what we
consider a "weak" business risk profile, which takes into account the company's
relatively recent entry into the consumer broadband business, which we believe
has somewhat uncertain demand prospects and potential for more intense
competition than the company's government systems and commercial networks
systems. The company has a sustainable position in the government services
segment providing defense network components, although we believe U.S. federal
budget pressures will constrain growth in this area. RELATED CRITERIA AND
RESEARCH -- Methodology And Assumptions: Liquidity Descriptors For Global
Corporate Issuers, Sept. 28, 2011 -- Criteria Guidelines For Recovery Ratings,
Aug. 10, 2009 -- 2008 Corporate Criteria: Analytical Methodology, April 15, 2008
RATINGS LIST ViaSat Inc. Corporate credit rating B+/Stable/-- Rating Assigned
$275 mil. senior notes due 2020 B+ Recovery rating 4 Recovery Rating Revised To
From $275 mil. senior notes due 2016 B+ Recovery rating 4 3 Complete ratings
information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect on the Global Credit
Portal at www.globalcreditportal.com. All ratings affected by this rating action
can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at www.standardandpoors.com.
Use the Ratings search box located in the left column. Primary Credit Analyst:
Catherine Cosentino, New York (1) 212-438-7828;
catherine_cosentino@standardandpoors.com Secondary Contact: Naveen Sarma, New
York (1) 212-438-7833; naveen_sarma@standardandpoors.com No content (including
ratings, credit-related analyses and data, model, software, or other application
or output therefrom) or any part thereof (Content) may be modified, reverse
engineered, reproduced, or distributed in any form by any means, or stored in a
database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Standard &
Poor's Financial Services LLC or its affiliates (collectively, S&P). The Content
shall not be used for any unlawful or unauthorized purposes. S&P and any
third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders,
employees, or agents (collectively S&P Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy,
completeness, timeliness, or availability of the Content. S&P Parties are not
responsible for any errors or omissions (negligent or otherwise), regardless of
the cause, for the results obtained from the use of the Content, or for the
security or maintenance of any data input by the user. The Content is provided
on an "as is" basis. S&P PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR
DEFECTS, THAT THE CONTENT'S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT THE
CONTENT WILL OPERATE WITH ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION. In no event
shall S&P Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental,
exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs,
expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or
lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection
with any use of the Content even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Credit-related and other analyses, including ratings, and statements in the
Content are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not
statements of fact. S&P's opinions, analyses, and rating acknowledgment
decisions (described below) are not recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell
any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the
suitability of any security. S&P assumes no obligation to update the Content
following publication in any form or format. The Content should not be relied on
and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment, and experience of the user, its
management, employees, advisors, and/or clients when making investment and other
business decisions. S&P does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor
except where registered as such. While S&P has obtained information from sources
it believes to be reliable, S&P does not perform an audit and undertakes no duty
of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. To
the extent that regulatory authorities allow a rating agency to acknowledge in
one jurisdiction a rating issued in another jurisdiction for certain regulatory
purposes, S&P reserves the right to assign, withdraw, or suspend such
acknowledgement at any time and in its sole discretion. S&P Parties disclaim any
duty whatsoever arising out of the assignment, withdrawal, or suspension of an
acknowledgment as well as any liability for any damage alleged to have been
suffered on account thereof. S&P keeps certain activities of its business units
separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity
of their respective activities. As a result, certain business units of S&P may
have information that is not available to other S&P business units. S&P has
established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain
nonpublic information received in connection with each analytical process. S&P
may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from
issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P reserves the right
to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P's public ratings and analyses are
made available on its Web sites, www.standardandpoors.com (free of charge), and
www.ratingsdirect.com and www.globalcreditportal.com (subscription), and may be
distributed through other means, including via S&P publications and third-party
redistributors. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at
www.standardandpoors.com/usratingsfees. Any Passwords/user IDs issued by S&P to
users are single user-dedicated and may ONLY be used by the individual to whom
they have been assigned. No sharing of passwords/user IDs and no simultaneous
access via the same password/user ID is permitted. To reprint, translate, or use
the data or information other than as provided herein, contact Client Services,
55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041; (1) 212-438-7280 or by e-mail to:
research_request@standardandpoors.com. Copyright (c) 2012 by Standard & Poor's
Financial Services LLC. All rights reserved. In addition to CreditWire, Standard
& Poor's also offers RatingsDirect, the online source for real-time, objective
credit ratings and research; and RatingsXpress, a real-time, customizable
digital feed of credit information. If you are interested in becoming a
subscriber and would like more information on Standard & Poor's real-time
information products and services, please call: HONG KONG (852) 2533-3500;
LONDON (44) 20-7176-7176; MELBOURNE (61) 3-9631-2000; NEW YORK (1) 212-438-7280;
PARIS (33) 1-4420-6758 NORMAL RATINGS ViaSat Inc VSAT.DE VSAT.F S&P Rts ViaSat's
Prpd $275 Mil. Sr Notes B+; Recovery Rtg 4 ViaSat Inc ViaSt VSAT.O USD INDEX
.15GSPC S&P 1500 US FWE E U COMS US COMS ELC TEL yes
S&P RTS VIASAT'S PRPD $275 MIL. SR NOTES B+; RECOVERY RTG 4
RPT - S&P RATES VIASAT'S PRPD $275 MIL. SR NOTES B+; RECOVERY RTG 4