French retail real estate company Klépierre has announced the successful closing of its disposal of a large portfolio of 126 noncore assets to a consortium led by French retailer Carrefour. As a result, we believe that Klépierre's overall asset quality and credit metrics will improve. We are therefore raising our long-term rating on Klépierre to 'A-' and removing it from CreditWatch positive, and affirming the 'A-2' short-term rating. The stable outlook reflects our view that, post transaction, Klépierre's interest coverage ratio will likely be close to 3x and the ratio of debt to debt-and-equity close to 45%. PARIS (Standard&Poor's) April 16, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it had raised its long-term corporate credit rating on French
