Germany-based waste management company ALBA Group has announced its plans to form a joint venture with an investment fund led by the Deng family that, if approved by the antitrust authorities, will take over a 60% stake in selected areas of ALBA Group's business in China and its services segment. At this stage, without knowing the value of the transaction and potential cash proceeds for ALBA Group, we are not able to assess the implications of the takeover on ALBA Group's credit quality. We are therefore placing our 'B-' long-term corporate credit rating on ALBA and our 'CCC' issue rating on the group's €203 million unsecured notes on CreditWatch developing. We aim to resolve the CreditWatch in the coming two
