CHICAGO (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 16, 2014--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'BBB+' issue-level rating to The Priceline Group Inc.'s proposed Euro-denominated senior debt offering due 2024. The company will use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases, repaying debt, and acquisitions. The issue rating is at the same level as the corporate credit rating on Priceline. (Listen to the related podcast titled, "Standard&Poor?s Rates Priceline Group?s Proposed Euro-Denominated Senior Debt Offering," dated Sept. 17, 2014.) Pro forma for the debt offering, we expect Priceline to maintain a net cash position. Our debt leverage threshold for our 'BBB+' corporate credit rating on Priceline is 1.0x. We assess Priceline's financial risk as
