NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) June 14, 1999--Standard&Poor's today placed its double-'A' long-term corporate credit, senior secured, senior unsecured, and bank loan ratings for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'A-1+' short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings for Wal-Mart. The short-term corporate credit and commercial paper ratings are not on CreditWatch. These actions follow the company's announcement of an agreement to acquire Asda Group plc for $10.8 billion in cash. Asda is the third largest supermarket in the U.K., with 229 stores and $13.2 billion in annual sales. Although Wal-Mart's strong operating performance and free cash flow generation in recent years have built up capacity
