S&P cuts American Greetings

Standard & Poor's said it lowered its ratings on American Greetings Corp., including the long-term corporate credit rating to BB from BB+, the company's senior secured debt to BB+ with an unchanged recovery rating of 2 from BBB- and its $222 million senior unsecured notes due 2016 to B+ with an unchanged recovery rating of 6 from BB-.

The senior secured debt consists of a $350 million revolving credit facility maturing in 2011 and a $100 million term loan maturing 2013.

All ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Dec. 23, and the outlook is stable.

The agency said the ratings on American Greetings reflect its aggressive financial policies, strong market position and broad product offerings within the greeting card industry.

S&P believes the company faces some near-term integration risk following its recent acquisition of Recycled Paper Greetings and its purchase of the Papyrus brand from Schurman Fine Papers and that growth in the company's core greeting card business will continue to be constrained by the industry's slow growth and mature characteristics.

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