On Nov. 11, 2004, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its ratings for Blockbuster Inc., including the 'BB' corporate credit rating, on CreditWatch with negative implications. The CreditWatch placement followed Blockbuster's announcement that it has offered to purchase Hollywood Entertainment Corp. (B+/Watch Dev/--) for total consideration of $1.05 billion ($700 million purchase price and the assumption of $350 million of debt). At the same time, Standard&Poor's revised its CreditWatch status on Hollywood to developing from negative. The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. The CreditWatch negative listing on Blockbuster reflects the possibility that ratings could be lowered based on a potential deterioration in Blockbuster's business and financial profile post-merger. The developing CreditWatch listing for Hollywood means
