National Grid/Keyspan

Another day, another multi-billion deal fuelled by cheap debt raised off a utility’s under-leveraged balance sheet. But the mooted $11bn offer by Britain’s National Grid for US utility KeySpan isn’t a continental-style land grab, unlike the carve-up of Europe’s energy markets by its unbounded French, German, Italian and Spanish national champions. National Grid has patiently built up its operations in the north-eastern US over the past seven years. Buying New York-based KeySpan’s gas distributi...