New York, March 19, 2014 -- Moody's Investors Service withdrew ratings on Centaur Funding Corporation's (Centaur) Series A, Series B and Series C preference shares, following the completion of Verizon Communications, Inc.'s (Baa1, Stable Outlook) acquisition of the 45% ownership stake in Verizon Wireless (A3, Stable Outlook) that was owned by Vodafone Group Plc (A3, Negative Outlook). The underlying Series D and E preferred shares in Vodafone Americas Inc. (formerly Airtouch Americas), which are held by Comcast Corporation (A3) and secures the Centaur Funding bonds, moved to the Verizon Wireless family of companies as part of Verizon's acquisition of its remaining stake. Up until now, Moody's has moved the Centaur preferred stock ratings in lockstep with the Vodafone Americas Inc. public Series B and C preferred stock ratings. However, on March 6, 2014, Moody's announced that it had corrected the rating history and withdrawn ratings on Vodafone America Inc.'s Series B and C preferred stock, as these obligations were no longer outstanding. Centaur's preferred stock ratings have been withdrawn pursuant to Moody's guidelines for the withdrawal of ratings, as insufficient information is available to Moody's to assess their standalone creditworthiness, and the obligations are not unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by a rated entity.

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