MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 26, 2004--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that Leighton Holdings Ltd.'s (BBB+/Stable/--) rating is unaffected by RWE AG's divestment in Hochtief AG. Engineering and construction company Australia-based Leighton is 50.1% controlled by Germany-based engineering company Hochtief. On Feb. 25, RWE announced that its entire 56.1% direct and indirect ownership stake in Hochtief was placed with institutional investors in Europe and the U.S. A total of 32.6 million RWE-owned shares in Hochtief representing 46.5% of Hochtief's equity was sold, together with an issue of €200 million of bonds exchangeable into Hochtief shares. RWE will retain 9.6% of Hochtief's equity, which will serve to underlie the bonds. RWE raised a total of €950 million from the
