On Feb. 5, 2007, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A+' long-term and 'A-1' short-term corporate credit ratings on Spanish utility Gas Natural SDG, S.A. At the same time, all ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with negative implications on Sept. 6, 2005, following the company's €22.55 billion hostile bid for a 100% stake in Spanish utility, Endesa S.A. (A/Watch Neg/A-1). The outlook, which was stable before the CreditWatch listing, is now negative. The rating action follows Gas Natural's announcement on Feb. 1, 2007, of the withdrawal of its bid for Endesa, leaving German utility E.ON AG (AA-/Watch Neg/A-1+) as the only contender and thereby ending the long-drawn-out bidding process. Gas Natural has indicated that
