DTE Energy Co. (DTE) has entered into an agreement to purchase a Haynesville Basin midstream natural gas asset, M5 Louisiana Holdings LLC, for $2.25 billion We expect the proposed financing of the midstream acquisition to consist of 50% equity (predominantly mandatory convertible equity units) and 50% debt. We are affirming our 'BBB+' issuer credit rating (ICR) on DTE. The outlook is stable. The stable outlook on DTE reflects our expectation that management will continue to maintain its excellent business risk profile by focusing on core utility operations and reaching constructive regulatory outcomes while not disproportionately expanding nonutility operations. Supportive regulation, a growing economy in its service area with a mostly residential customer base, and lack of competition characterize the utility
