S&P assigns Eli Lilly floaters AA

Standard & Poor's said it assigned its AA senior unsecured debt rating to Eli Lilly Services Inc.'s $1.5 billion 13-month floating-rate extendible notes, issued under Rule 144A.

The agency said proceeds from the offering will be used to help fund the repatriation of $8 billion in overseas earnings in accordance with the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.

At the same time, S&P said it affirmed its existing ratings on Lilly, including the AA long-term and A-1+ short-term corporate credit ratings. The outlook is stable.

"The ratings on Lilly reflect the company's well-established position in the U.S. pharmaceutical market, the promise of its recently approved new products and its conservative financial policies," said S&P credit analyst Arthur Wong.

"These factors more than offset concerns about the company's relatively heavy reliance on its flagship product - the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa - for sales and earnings."

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