The merger of E.I. DuPont De Nemours&Co. and The Dow Chemical Co. appears imminent following key clearances and regulatory approvals. We are affirming our ratings on DuPont, including our 'A-' corporate credit rating, 'A-2' short-term rating, and 'A-' issue ratings. At the same time, we are removing all ratings from CreditWatch Negative. Our ratings reflect our view of stand-alone credit quality at DuPont. We do not factor any support to, or from, the DowDuPont group, which includes Dow, DuPont, and their future parent DowDuPont. This is because we view the DowDuPont group structure as transient, and not as the ultimate strategic goal, resulting in a nonstrategic relationship between group entities. However, because of the uncertainty related to spinoffs--including
