The ratings on St. Paul, Minn.--based Ecolab Inc. remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Feb. 27, 2008, following Ecolab's announcement that it will consider the repurchase of some of its shares that Henkel AG&Co. KGaA (A/Stable/A-1) intends to divest. Earlier, Henkel had announced its intention to divest all or part of its approximately 29% stake in Ecolab. The market value of the shares held by Henkel remains substantial, at more than $3 billion, based on the market price at Aug. 28, 2008. As of June 30, 2008, Ecolab had $1.66 billion in adjusted debt (including the present value of operating leases and tax-adjusted unfunded postretirement obligations). The CreditWatch with negative implications indicates that
