...CHICAGO (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 10, 2017--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its '###' rating to Chicago-based Conagra Brands Inc.'s proposed senior unsecured floating-rate notes. We expect Conagra to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including repaying commercial paper, and repurchasing common stock. As of Aug. 27, 2017, Conagra had $3.3 billion debt outstanding. All of our existing ratings on the company, including our '###/A-2' corporate credit rating, are unchanged. The outlook is stable. Conagra Brands has a relatively diverse portfolio of well-known brands, some of which are in categories facing secular weakness. The company's management team is repositioning its portfolio through innovation and select acquisitions. This has resulted in meaningfully higher profitability, though it still lags that of larger packaged-food peers, which tend to have greater scale and geographic diversity. We expect Conagra to continue investment in its key brands...
