PARIS (Standard&Poor's) March 8, 2002--Standard&Poor's said today that it had revised its outlook on France-based multi-utility Vivendi Environnement S.A. to stable from positive, as the company's growth strategy may be more debt financed than previously expected. At the same time, the triple-'B'-plus long-term and 'A-2' short-term corporate credit ratings on the company were affirmed. "The outlook change has been triggered by the company's announcement today of its potential acquisition of U.K. water utility Southern Water PLC, as well as by higher-than-expected 2001 net debt levels of €17.2 billion compared with €14.5 billion in 2000, as reported by Vivendi Environnement on March 5, 2002," said Karl Nietvelt, Associate Director at Standard&Poor's. These combined elements lead
