PARIS (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Nov. 20, 2000--Following France Telecom's announcement that it will acquire a majority stake in the international data carrier Equant N.V., Standard&Poor's today affirmed its single-'A' long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings and its 'A-1' short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings on France Telecom. The outlook remains negative. According to the proposed transaction, France Telecom will acquire a 34% stake in Equant from the SITA Foundation, a consortium of the world's biggest airlines, for about Eur3.5 billion in existing France Telecom shares based on current share prices. France Telecom will also transfer to Equant the corporate data services business of Global One and inject $300 million in cash. Upon completion of
