AM Best Assigns Indicative Issue Credit Ratings to Lincoln National Corporation’s Subordinated Notes

AM Best has assigned indicative Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of “bbb+” (Good) to the subordinated notes of Lincoln National Corporation (LNC) (headquartered in Radnor, PA) [NYSE: LNC]. The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (rating) is stable.

LNC will offer a par-for-par exchange of its LIBOR plus 236 basis points, due 2066, and LIBOR plus 204 basis points, due 2067, capital securities to give existing holders the opportunity to exchange their capital securities for higher-ranking securities issued by the company. The subordinated notes will rank senior to the capital securities following their issuance, and accordingly, the capital securities will be subordinated and junior to the subordinated notes in right of payment. Additionally, the subordinated notes will contain benchmark provisions that will allow the company to determine the interest rate payable on the notes based on a new reference rate. This change is in anticipation of the potential discontinuation of LIBOR in 2023.

LNC’s financial leverage and interest coverage ratios remain within AM Best’s guidelines for its current ratings. All other ratings of LNC and its insurance subsidiaries remain unchanged.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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