NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 10, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Iron Mountain Inc.'s (BB-/Stable/--) agreement to acquire Mentmore PLC's 49.9% equity stake in Iron Mountain Europe Limited (IME) for £82.5 million in cash does not affect its corporate credit rating or outlook. Iron Mountain will gain full access to all of IME's future cash flow and attain greater decision-making flexibility. Iron Mountain acquired a controlling interest in Mentmore's records management business and rebranded it as IME in 1999. Hays PLC's IMS unit was acquired through IME in July 2003, making Iron Mountain, the largest player in Europe. The transaction is expected to close in early 2004 and its impact to financial statements will be minimal
