The merger between U.S. midstream energy partnership Energy Transfer Equity L.P.'s (ETE) operating subsidiaries, Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (SXL), has closed, whereby ETP will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SXL. The combined company will be named ETP. We are lowering our corporate credit and senior secured debt ratings on ETE to 'BB-' from 'BB' and removing the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications. The '4' recovery rating on the senior secured debt is unchanged. The stable rating outlook on ETE reflects our expectation for the distribution payments it receives due to its ownership interests in its master limited partnerships (MLPs) to remain steady and that stand-alone debt to EBITDA will decrease below 4x
