NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) June 1, 2010--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Caterpillar Inc. (A/Stable/A-1) are unaffected by the company's announcement that its Progress Rail Services Inc. division has signed an agreement to acquire Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. (EMD; not rated), an Illinois-based maker of diesel-electric locomotives, for $820 million. The acquisition enhances Caterpillar's position in the rail services market, which it entered with the $1 billion Progress Rail acquisition in 2006. We expect Caterpillar to generate strong free cash flow this year although benefits from working capital reduction are unlikely to be sizable, as they were in 2009. Furthermore, we believe Caterpillar is likely to improve credit measures this year largely due
