Mubasher: Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC (S&P Global) on Thursday placed the Walt Disney Co’s A-plus rating on CreditWatch negative, implying a possible downgrade in the near term, according to MarketWatch.

The came right after Disney posted it was acquiring assets from 21st Century Fox Inc. for about $66 billion.

The deal is forecast to boost Disney's business and help it improve its direct-to-consumer offerings and reinforcing an already robust set of franchises.

"However, the acquisition will also likely increase adjusted leverage to the mid- to high-2x area depending on the final set of assets acquired, which will be well above our current 2x downside threshold for the rating," said S&P.

"The CreditWatch placement reflects the uncertainty regarding the final terms and structure associated with Disney's acquisition of a portion of Fox's assets and the potential for some regulatory concessions that may be required to complete the deal.

"Disney's 2.950% notes that mature in June of 2027 were last trading at 99.385 cents on the dollar to yield 3.0255, or at a yield spread of 66 basis points over Treasurys, according to MarketAxess,” S&P added.

On December 2, the bonds were trading at 100.074 cents on the dollar, when the first reports that Disney and Fox were in talks emerged.