NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) May 12, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it assigned its 'A+' rating to one of the world's leading agribusiness companies Cargill Inc.'s $500 million senior unsecured notes due 2013. At the same time, the outlook is revised to stable from negative. In addition, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'A+' long-term and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit ratings on the company. Privately owned, Minneapolis, Minn.-based Cargill has approximately $8.0 billion of debt. The outlook revision reflects Standard&Poor's comfort with Cargill's progress in integrating the recently acquired Cerestar S.A.'s operations. Also, there has been overall improvement in operating results and the related improvement in credit protection measures to levels more appropriate for the
