NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 11/13/98 -- Standard&Poor's today assigned its double-'B'-plus bank loan rating to The Scotts Co.'s $1.025 billion of secured bank credit facilities and places this rating on CreditWatch with negative implications. The double-'B'-plus corporate credit and double-'B'-minus subordinated debt ratings for Scotts remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed June 30, 1998. The initial CreditWatch placements followed Scotts' agreement to buy the marketing and agency rights to the Roundup brand of herbicide products from Monsanto Co. and the assets of Monsanto's other consumer lawn and garden business, principally the Ortho brand of pesticides, for approximately $300 million. Subsequently, Scotts said it would purchase Rhone Poulenc Jardin (RPJ), continental Europe's largest
