It looks as though Edcon Holdings Limited (Edcon) can finally breathe a sigh of relief after a nail-biting season that more than once saw South Africa's largest retail group on the brink of collapse. Downgrade woes In October, Moody's downgraded Edcon's global rating from Caa3 to Ca after it missed both the March and September 2016 interest payments on some of its bonds, which the rating agency viewed as a limited default. Moody's was a bit behind the curve, as Standard and Poor's (S&P) had already downgraded Edcon from CCC+ to SD (Selective Default) in April after the retailer failed to pay the interest on some of its euro- and dollar-denominated bonds within the 30-day grace period allowed by the bond documentation.