MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 10, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today the 'BBB+/Negative' corporate credit rating on Leighton Holdings Ltd. (Leighton) and the 'BBB-' issue rating on Leighton's hybrid issue would not be affected by the potential acquisition of Henry Walker Eltin Group Ltd.'s (HWE) mining assets by Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of Leighton. Leighton today announced that Leighton Contractors has entered into a Heads of Agreement with the administrators of HWE to purchase the Australian and New Zealand contract mining assets of the company for A$215 million. The transaction is subject to documentation and certain conditions, including the approval of the Foreign Investment Review Board. Standard&Poor's expects Leighton to fund the acquisition largely
