U.S. diversified industrial company Danaher Corp. has announced an agreement to acquire Beckman Coulter Inc. (Beckman, BBB/Watch Dev/--) for a total consideration of $6.8 billion. We are placing our 'A+' long-term corporate credit rating on Danaher and its senior unsecured debt ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, we are affirming our 'A-1' short-term and commercial paper ratings on the company. The negative CreditWatch implications reflect the potential for a downgrade, which we expect would be limited to one notch. Although we could affirm the rating after we review the acquisition and management's long-term strategic and financial objectives, higher debt levels and future debt-funded growth initiatives could result in a financial profile that is, over the long
