PARIS (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Jan. 12, 2001--Standard&Poor's today revised to negative from stable its outlook on 100% state-owned French gas utility Gaz de France. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its triple-'A' long-term corporate credit and 'A-1'-plus short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings on the company. The outlook revision comes in response to Gaz de France's decision to accelerate its acquisition program. The combination of this more ambitious strategy, continuing gas-market liberalization, and uncertainty regarding the amount of unfunded pension liabilities that will be assumed by Gaz de France at the time of its potential partial privatization, has put pressure on the company's current rating. The loss of Gaz de France's legal status as
