New York, September 19, 2016 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") said that the rating agency continues to expect that Abbott's senior unsecured ratings will be downgraded to Baa3 with a stable outlook following the close of the Alere and St. Jude Medical deals. This follows the news that the company has signed a definitive agreement to sell its medical optics business to Johnson & Johnson for $4.325 billion. Currently, Abbott Laboratories' A2 senior unsecured and Prime-1 short-term ratings are on review for downgrade. Abbott's ratings were initially placed on review on February 1, 2016 when Abbott announced plans to acquire Alere, Inc., a diagnostics manufacturer, for $8.4 billion. The ratings remained on review after Abbott announced plans on April 28, 2016 to acquire St. Jude Medical, Inc., a cardiac device maker, for about $31 billion (including St Jude's $5.7 billion of net debt).

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