On Nov. 11, 2008, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services removed its ratings, including its 'A' corporate credit rating, on Ecolab Inc. from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Feb. 27, 2008, following Ecolab's announcement that it would consider the repurchase of some of its shares that Henkel AG&Co. KGaA (A/Stable/A-1) intended to divest. Henkel had announced earlier its intention to divest all or part of its approximately 29% stake in Ecolab. The market value of the shares held by Henkel is substantial, at more than $3 billion, based on the prevailing market price at the time of the announcements. At the same time, we affirmed all ratings on Ecolab. The outlook is stable Our rating
