TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 30, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that SNC-Lavalin Inc.'s announcement that it has initiated the process to sell an equity stake in AltaLink L.P. (A-/Negative/--) does not affect its ratings on AltaLink or AltaLink Investments L.P. (BBB-/Negative/--). SNC is targeting growth in key engineering and construction markets, and as a result is reducing its ownership in assets within the infrastructure concessions portfolio. The company indicated it would consider all options for the sale, including private sale, public market sale, or a strategic partnership. We expect that the potential sale will take some time to play out. In the meantime, we expect that SNC will continue to provide the necessary equity support to AltaLink
