June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Tesco Plc’s decade of international expansion has pushed debt ratios at the U.K.’s largest retailer to record levels, endangering the company’s credit rating and sparking a backlash from fund managers and bondholders.

Bradley Mitchell, who helps oversee about $62 billion at Royal London Asset Management, said he stopped holding Tesco shares for the first time in 20 years in October as the stock didn’t adequately reflect the risks faced by the supermarket operator. Cheshunt, England-based Tesco has net debt of 9.6 billion pounds ($15.6 billion) and this week sold 431 million pounds of mortgage-backed bonds secured on commercial property.