TransCanada Corp. hired banks to organize calls with bond investors after warning last week that it may be downgraded by S&P Global Ratings.

The Calgary-based pipeline operator hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG to organize a series of calls with fixed income investors on Tuesday, according to information from a person familiar with the matter. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

TransCanada’s Chief Financial Officer Donald Marchand said at an earnings call last week that S&P may cut the company’s rating to “BBB plus” -- still comfortably within investment- grade space -- from “A minus.” He also said that it doesn’t view the changes as material and won’t change its funding plans.

Calls with fixed income investors that are organized by banks typically precede a bond sale. TransCanada, which is the developer of the Keystone XL pipeline, is working to complete $21 billion worth of projects, with its 2018 capital expenditures seen at $10 billion.

 Apart from cash flow, the company funds itself with senior debt, preferred shares, hybrid securities, asset sales and common shares. Its latest foray into debt markets was in November, when it priced $1.25 billion of securities in two tranches.

 The potential downgrade from S&P, which Marchand called “entirely possible in the near-term” at the earnings teleconference, follows Moody’s Investors Service cutting the outlook on TransCanada’s ratings to negative from stable on March 13.

--With assistance from Brian Smith