TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 12, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that its ratings on Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. (BBB+/Stable/--) are unaffected by the recent filing of the company's prospectus for an initial public offering of CT Real Estate Investment Trust (CT REIT). We recently assigned our 'BBB+' long-term corporate credit rating to CT REIT, which is linked to our rating on Canadian Tire, the REIT's controlling owner and largest tenant. Although Canadian Tire's ownership percentage could decline, we expect that the company would retain effective control over the REIT and the real estate that we view as integral to its retail operations. We believe that the establishment of the REIT would improve Canadian Tire's financial risk profile
