Frontier Comm. Offering $300 Million Of Notes

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — Frontier Communications Corp., a provider of phone, TV and Internet services, said Friday it has started a registered offering of $300 million of senior unsecured notes due 2014.

Frontier plans to use the proceeds to reduce, repurchase or refinance debt and for general corporate purposes.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services assigned a preliminary "BB" unsecured debt rating to Frontier's offering Friday, and affirmed a "BB" corporate credit rating on the company. A "BB" rating is non-investment grade.

In addition, Moody's Investors Service assigned a "Ba2" rating to the offering. A "Ba2" rating is also non-investment grade, also known as junk.

Shares fell 5 cents to $7.65 in afternoon trading.