On Aug. 6, 2002, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its triple-'A' long-term and 'A-1'-plus short-term corporate credit ratings on Switzerland-based food group Nestlé S.A. The outlook is negative. The affirmation followed the announcement that Nestlé will acquire the assets of Chef America Inc., a leading U.S. frozen food manufacturer, for a total cash consideration of $2.6 billion. The acquisition will delay the restoration of Nestlé's financial profile, which is currently weak for the rating category. Nevertheless, Standard&Poor's expects the group to achieve financial measures commensurate with the ratings--including funds from operations (FFO) to net debt exceeding 90%--no later than the end of first-half 2004. FFO coverage of net debt was 46% at year-end 2001. Since then, however,
