NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 9, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that the ratings and outlook on PepsiCo Inc. (A+/Negative/A-1) are not affected by the announcement that PepsiCo had reached an agreement with Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS) to manufacture and distribute certain DPS products following PepsiCo's acquisition of its two anchor bottlers, The Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG; A/WatchPos/A-1) and PepsiAmericas Inc. (PAS; A/WatchPos/A-1). Under the terms of the agreement, PepsiCo will pay a one-time upfront payment of $900 million payable to DPS upon closing of the pending acquisitions. In exchange, PepsiCo will be entitled to manufacture and distribute Dr Pepper and certain other DPS products in the territories that are currently distributed by PBG
