doubling its gas distribution business.
But some analysts were surprised at the timing, the scale and impact such a deal would have on the company’s already leveraged balance sheet. Late on Tuesday, Moody’s cut Enbridge’s outlook to negative. In a note, Ellis described the acquisition a “defensive move” and said despite the size of the deal Enbridge left its 5% annual EBITDA growth expectation over the medium term unchanged, which suggests that the earnings contribution is “replacing weaker results on the liquids side of the business.”