OVERVIEW St. Paul, Mn.-based Ecolab Inc. has announced that it is acquiring Houston, Texas-based specialty chemical maker Champion Technologies and a related company Corsicana Technologies (collectively, Champion) for about $2.2 billion. Ecolab will fund this with about 25% of its equity and about 75% cash. We believe the transaction will not affect Ecolab's excellent business risk profile, and significant financial risk profile if consummated as currently structured, even if the company funds the entire cash portion with debt as intended. We are affirming all our ratings on Ecolab, including the 'BBB+' corporate credit rating. The stable outlook on the company reflects our belief in the company's ability and intent to strengthen its financial profile to levels appropriate for the ratings
