NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) May 3, 2001-- Standard&Poor's today assigned its triple-'B'-plus rating to International Flavors&Fragrances Inc.'s (IFF) $700 million 6.45% senior unsecured notes due May 15, 2006. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its ratings on IFF (see list below). The outlook is negative. Total debt as of March 31, 2001, was about $1.3 billion. The ratings for IFF reflect the company's position as the leading global creator and manufacturer of flavors and fragrances used in a wide variety of consumer products, partially offset by the company's more aggressive financial policy and weaker credit protection measures pro forma for the November 2000 acquisition
