LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 28, 2008--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today its ratings and outlook on U.K.-based British American Tobacco PLC (BAT; BBB+/Stable/A-2) are unchanged after the group announced that it will acquire the cigarette businesses of Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni A/S (ST), as well as related snus (smokeless tobacco) and roll-your-own tobacco interests. We expect BAT to remain within the rating guidelines after the transaction, also incorporating the impact of the recent acquisition of the Tekel business in Turkey. BAT has announced that it will scale back its share buyback program, which should moderate the impact of the recent acquisitions on debt leverage. ST accounts for more than 60% of cigarette sales in Scandinavia. The overall cash price of
