PARIS (Standard&Poor's) March 22, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES Global S.A. (BBB+/Stable/A-2) are unchanged following the company's announced plan to buy back 7 million of its Class A shares and 3.5 million of its Class B shares for about €120 million at current market prices. The share repurchase follows the decision by GE Capital, a subsidiary of General Electric Co. (AAA/Stable/A-1+), to sell about 35 million of SES' Class C shares as a first step toward a total exit from SES' share capital. After the proposed share buyback and cancellation, GE Capital's voting rights and capital holdings in SES will be reduced to about 15.2% and
