NEW YORK (S&P Global) May 31, 2016--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'AA-' issue-level rating to Atlanta, Ga.-based The Coca-Cola Co.'s (Coke's) proposed senior unsecured Australian dollar notes, final amounts and maturities to be determined. The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes. Coke benefits from its very strong position as the world's largest nonalcoholic beverage company, anchored by well-known brands, above-average EBITDA margin, as well as broad geographic diversification, including an extensive global bottling network. We forecast Coke's leverage will be modestly higher over next several quarters and then improve once it completes refranchising its bottling operations. We estimate debt to EBITDA was about 2.5x for the 12 months ended March 31,
