In September 2001, Klépierre S.A., one of the leading retail property companies in continental Europe, cancelled its planned capital increase of about €225 million, which was expected to be issued in the weeks following (after an aborted attempt in late 2000). The company announced that it would be using debt rather than equity to pursue its growth strategy until the end of 2002. At the time of the announcement, Standard&Poor's placed on CreditWatch with negative implications its 'BBB+' long-term corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Klépierre. Although Klépierre posted satisfactory results for the six months to June 2001, with EBITDA interest coverage of about 2.4 times and a loan-to-value ratio of 40% (all unadjusted), Standard&
