U.S.-based soft drink and snack food giant PepsiCo completed its acquisitions of Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. We are lowering the corporate credit rating on PepsiCo to 'A' from 'A+' and lowering its senior unsecured debt ratings to 'A-' from 'A+'. We are affirming the 'A' corporate credit and debt ratings on Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. We removed all ratings from CreditWatch. The outlook is stable reflecting our belief that PepsiCo's credit measures will remain below our prior expectations in the intermediate term primarily due to the company's expected active and largely debt-financed share repurchase program. On March 17, 2010, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its corporate credit rating on Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc. to 'A' from 'A+'.
