PARIS (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Feb. 17, 1999--Standard&Poor's today announced that its long- and short-term ratings on British Aerospace PLC (BAe) and related guaranteed entities (see list below) remain on CreditWatch with positive implications--where they were placed on Jan. 19, 1999--pending the finalization of the acquisition of Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defense arm of GEC PLC (unrated). Upon regulatory approval and completion of the transaction, however, Standard&Poor's will likely raise its long- and short-term ratings on the entities to respectively single-'A' and 'A-1', from single-'A'-minus and 'A-2'. The outlook will be stable. If the transaction were to fall through, all the existing ratings would be affirmed and removed from CreditWatch. Ratings reflect British Aerospace PLC's
