Moody's: Debt-financed M&A activity pressures credit profiles of US regulated utilities

New York, March 10, 2016 -- The uptick of merger and acquisition activity in the US regulated utility sector has put pressure on the acquiring companies' credit profiles, according to Moody's Investors Service in a new sector report. In part, these pressures prompted downgrades of Wisconsin Energy Corporation (A3 stable) and Laclede Group (Baa2 stable) in May 2015 and August 2014, respectively. Most of these utility acquisitions have been financed primarily with debt issued by the acquiring parent companies, which is increasing more than the cash flows from the merged companies.

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