PARIS (Standard & Poor's) March 7, 2005--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it has assigned its 'A+' long-term and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit ratings to France-based toll-road operator Sanef, which operates Europe's fourth-largest interconnected toll-highway network, principally located in northern, western, and eastern France. The outlook is stable. "The ratings reflect Sanef's low-traffic-risk and well diversified toll-road network operations in France, with above-average traffic growth rates, a supportive regulatory regime with favorable toll-escalation indices, and steady recurring cash flows," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Alexandre de Lestrange. The ratings also take into account a net cash injection of about Ç0.8 billion ($1.1 billion) that will follow the planned IPO of about 30% of the company by its
