NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 17, 2007--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today affirmed its ratings, including the 'BB' corporate credit rating, on lawn and garden care products supplier The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. The ratings have been removed from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Dec. 13, 2006 following the company's announcement that it will return $750 million to its shareholders through a $500 million special one-time cash dividend and fund share repurchases of up to $250 million. The outlook is negative. As of Sept. 30, 2006, Scotts had about $481.2 million in total debt outstanding, excluding operating lease obligations. Scotts will have about $1.7 billion in debt outstanding subsequent to its leveraged recapitalization. The company plans
