FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 17, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on German-based chemicals producer BASF AG (AA-/Stable/A-1+) are unaffected by the group's announcement that it intends to fund its €2.9 billion unfunded German pension plans by paying €3.7 billion in cash into a Contractual Trust Arrangement, under which the cash will be held in a trust and the trust's assets will be used solely to cover pension obligations. Standard&Poor's considers that the effect of the proposal on BASF's credit profile is neutral to positive, as the transaction essentially replaces the largest part of BASF Group's pension provisions of €3.9 billion in 2004, with an increase in conventional net debt. Therefore,
