MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) March 22, 2000--Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'A'-minus long-term and 'A-2' short-term ratings to ETSA Utilities Finance Pty. Ltd.'s A$1.3 billion medium-term note program. Notes issued under the program that are covered by the Ambac Assurance Corp.'s (triple-'A'/Stable/—) financial guarantee are assigned Standard&Poor's triple-'A' long-term rating. The financial guarantee will not apply to all of the medium-term notes issued under the program. ETSA Utilities Finance Pty. Ltd. is the financing arm of the recently privatised South Australian electricity distribution business, ETSA Utilities Partnership (ETSA Utilities), which is about to undertake one of the largest refinancings yet seen in the Australian infrastructure sector. ETSA Utilities will be accessing domestic and international bond markets
