LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Apr. 19, 2011--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on French construction and engineered materials manufacturer and distributor Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Saint-Gobain; BBB/Stable/A-2) are not immediately affected by the group's announcement of the launch of a partial divestment of its packaging operations. On the successful completion of the minority IPO, we understand that these operations would be incorporated for the first time as Verallia Group under Verallia S.A. We view Saint-Gobain's ownership of the packaging business as supportive for the group's ratings, given its steady cash flow contribution and relatively high margins. In 2010, packaging constituted 8.8% of Saint-Gobain's total reported group sales and 14.4% of EBITDA. Therefore, we think the
