S&P places American Greetings on negative watch

Standard & Poor's said it placed all of its ratings on American Greetings Corp., including the BB+ corporate credit rating, on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The CreditWatch placement follows news that Zev Weiss, the company's chief executive officer, and Jeffrey Weiss, its president and chief operating officer, on behalf of themselves and certain other members of the Weiss family and related parties, intend to acquire all remaining outstanding class A and class B common shares of American Greetings for $17.18 per share, S&P said.

The Weiss family has indicated that some existing shareholders would likely reinvest or rollover their shares as part of this buyout. They would obtain debt financing to fund the balance of the transaction, S&P said.

If the transaction is completed, the agency said it believes the company's credit metrics would weaken as a result of a likely increase in leverage, the agency said.

S&P said it will resolve the CreditWatch when more information regarding the transaction and related financing becomes available.

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