NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Sept. 26, 2000--Standard&Poor's today placed its ratings for International Flavors&Fragrances Inc. (IFF) on CreditWatch with negative implications (see list below). The CreditWatch placement follows the announcement by IFF and Bush Boake Allen (BBA) that their boards of directors have approved a definitive merger agreement, under which IFF will acquire all of the outstanding shares of BBA for $48.5 per share, or about $970 million. The transaction will be accounted for as a purchase and is expected to be largely debt financed. Based on Standard&Poor's analysis of this transaction, which includes assumptions for the combined companies' projected operating and financial performance, stock repurchases, and dividends, the long-term corporate credit
