U.S. diversified energy company Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) and Southern Co. announced the closing of their strategic natural gas pipeline joint venture through Southern Co.'s acquisition of a 50% equity interest in Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC. We are raising the corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Southern Natural Gas to 'BBB+' from 'BBB-' and removing the ratings from CreditWatch with positive implications. The outlook is stable. The stable outlook on Southern Natural Gas reflects our expectations that the pipeline will maintain a solid competitive position supplying natural gas to the Southeast U.S. and strong credit measures, such as total debt to EBITDA in the 3x to 3.5x area. On Sept. 2, 2016, S&P Global Ratings raised its
