TORONTO (Standard&Poor's) Dec. 17, 2001--Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'B'-plus rating to Cott Corp.'s US$275 million unsecured notes due 2011. In addition, the company's US$75 million secured revolving bank facility was assigned a double-'B' senior secured debt rating. At the same time, the double-'B'-minus corporate credit and single-'B'-plus senior unsecured debt ratings on Cott were affirmed. When secured debt accounts for a significant proportion of assets and cash flow, unsecured debt is notched down from the corporate credit rating. The outlook is stable. The new unsecured debentures will rank pari passu to all existing and future senior subordinated indebtedness and junior to all existing and future senior indebtedness, and will be guaranteed on a senior subordinated basis
