On March 4, 2009, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'A' senior unsecured debt rating to Minnetonka, Minn.-based Cargill Inc.'s planned $450 million 7.35% senior unsecured note offering due March 6, 2019. The notes will be a drawdown from the company's existing $3 billion medium-term note shelf registration, and Cargill will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. The firm's position as one of the world's leading agribusiness companies, with major market positions in agricultural processing and merchandising, industrial production, and financial services, supports the rating on Cargill and related entities. However, in our view, the company's moderately aggressive financial profile partially offsets company strengths. (For the latest complete corporate credit rating rationale, see Standard&Poor's research report
