NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Feb. 2, 1999--Standard&Poor's today assigned its single-'A' rating to Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc.'s $2.3 billion senior notes due 2004 and 2009. Pepsi Bottling Holdings is a subsidiary of PepsiCo Inc. (PepsiCo) and payment of principal and interest on these notes will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by PepsiCo. Along with plans for the intended initial public offering of PepsiCo's company-owned bottling operations, The Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG), these notes will be assumed by Bottling Group LLC, the principal operating subsidiary of PBG, and the guarantee will remain in effect. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its single-'A' corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings, as well as its 'A-1'
