S&P downgrades Enbridge

Standard & Poor's said it lowered its ratings on Enbridge Inc. (EI), Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc., including its long-term corporate credit rating to BBB+ from A-.

At the same time, the agency lowered its corporate credit rating on Enbridge Energy Partners LP to BBB from BBB+.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they were placed Dec. 4, 2014.

"The downgrade reflects our assessment of weak forecast financial metrics at EI," S&P credit analyst Gerry Hannochko said in a news release.

Enbridge and Enbridge Income Fund announced an agreement for the fund’s acquisition of the Canadian liquids pipeline business and renewable generation assets from Enbridge, for consideration to Enbridge of roughly C$19 billion. The dropdown does not change the agency’s assessments of Enbridge’s business risk or financial risk profile.

S&P said it views Enbridge as having an "excellent" business risk profile and "excellent" competitive position. About 15% of Enbridge is composed of Enbridge Gas, a regulated gas distribution utility.

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