On May 18, 2025, Capital One Financial Corp (NYSE:COF) finalized its acquisition of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS). Following the completion, S&P Global Ratings raised Discover Financial Services’ issuer credit rating from ’BBB-’ to ’BBB’, matching Capital One’s current rating.
S&P also upgraded Discover Bank’s issuer credit rating from ’BBB’ to ’BBB+’, with all issue ratings receiving a similar one-notch increase.
After these upgrades, S&P withdrew the issuer credit ratings for both Discover Financial Services and Discover Bank, as well as the ’BB’ issue rating for Discover Financial’s preferred stock. All remaining issue ratings were transferred to Capital One.
These changes followed Capital One’s assumption of all outstanding Discover debt post-acquisition, reflecting evolving dynamics in the financial industry as consolidation continues.