LONDON (Standard&Poor's) May 23, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Dutch diversified technology group Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (A-/Stable/A-2) are unaffected by the group's announcement that it is to acquire Avent Holdings Ltd. (AVENT), the U.K.-headquartered provider of baby and infant feeding products, for about £460 million (€675 million). Standard&Poor's considers Philip's financial flexibility to be sufficient to undertake the acquisition given the combination of the group's cash balance and financial holdings totaling €15 billion at March 31, 2006. With sales of about €165 million and an operating margin of 22% for the 12 months ended March 31, 2006, Philips anticipates the AVENT acquisition will be accretive to margins
