On April 28, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its 'A' long-term and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit and other ratings on Louisville, K.Y.-based Brown-Forman Corp. and the 'BB' corporate credit rating and other ratings on Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands Inc. on CreditWatch with negative implications. The CreditWatch listings follow the confirmation by both companies that they are part of a consortium considering a potential takeover of Allied Domecq PLC (BBB+/Watch Neg/A-2). Although no offer has been made and no financial details have been disclosed regarding this potential transaction, Allied's current market value is substantial, at approximately $14.6 billion. Standard&Poor's believes that even a partially debt-financed acquisition of this size could weaken credit measures for both companies below
