The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that seven years ago, TransCanada Corp., as TC Energy was then named, was thriving. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes that then, in March, 2016, the company splurged on a $10.3-billion (U.S.) acquisition of Houston-based Columbia Pipeline Group, offering investors exposure to a prolific shale gas formation in the U.S. Northeast. It all feels like a lifetime ago. On Monday, TC Energy announced it is selling 40 per cent of Columbia to a private equity firm, and the $3.9-billion (U.S.) sale price amounts to a far lower multiple to earnings than what TC originally paid. TC Energy's shares dropped. Credit rating agencies are not impressed, either. S&P Global is keeping TC Energy's debt rating unchanged, but Moody's and DBRS Morningstar both downgraded the company one notch after the deal was announced. Moody's said the major asset sale "will not in itself be sufficient to offset pressure on the balance sheet." Most of this pressure comes from TC Energy's expansion plans, and the company is already wrestling with cost overruns at its Coastal GasLink pipeline. TC Energy's shares closed at $48.50 on Tuesday, almost exactly where they were when Columbia was first acquired.