HOUSTON and NEW YORK, June 1,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Crestwood Equity Partners LP (NYSE:
CEQP) ("Crestwood") and
Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED) ("Con Edison") today announced
that their subsidiaries entered into a purchase and sale agreement
to divest Stagecoach Gas Services LLC ("Stagecoach"), to a
subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc.
(NYSE: KMI) for $1.225 billion. The
cash proceeds from the divestiture will be split pro rata between
Crestwood and Con Edison in line
with each member's 50% ownership interest in the joint venture. The
agreement was signed on May 31, 2021 and is subject to
two closing periods. The first closing consists of the transfer of
the Stagecoach subsidiaries (with the exception of Twin Tier
Pipeline LLC) valued at $1.195
billion, and is expected to occur following approval under
Hart-Scott-Rodino, during the third quarter of 2021.
Robert G. Phillips, Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Crestwood's general partner, commented,
"Today's announcement is bittersweet for Crestwood as it culminates our ownership of
Stagecoach Gas Services, which our predecessor company originally
acquired in 2005, but we are pleased Kinder
Morgan, a great organization with complementary assets in
the Northeast, will be the next owner and operator of these
irreplaceable infrastructure assets. We want to thank our
Stagecoach employees for their hard work and dedication and Con
Edison for being a valuable joint venture partner over the last
five years. As of result of this transaction, Crestwood will enhance our financial
flexibility by immediately accelerating our de-leveraging strategy
to achieve a year-end 2021 pro forma leverage ratio of 3.50x to
3.75x, consistent with our long-term target that we have
communicated to our investors over the past several years. As a
result, we are now positioned to further reduce our cost of capital
and enhance returns to our unitholders through opportunistic common
and preferred unit buy-backs, as we strive to be a leading
sustainable MLP with best-in-class financial metrics."
"Con Edison wants to express its appreciation to Crestwood for being a valuable partner and is
gratified an operator the caliber of Kinder
Morgan will be the steward of the Stagecoach assets," said
Timothy Cawley, Con Edison's CEO.
"Through the implementation of our Clean Energy Commitment, Con
Edison is leading the transition to the clean energy future that
our customers expect and deserve. This transaction is consistent
with our strategy to deliver on that future."
Crestwood intends to use net
proceeds to repay outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit
facility and opportunistically utilize free cash flow after
distributions for its board approved common and preferred equity
buy-back program.
Stagecoach is comprised of premier natural gas pipeline and
storage facilities that provide a critical link between robust
natural gas supply sources and Northeast US demand markets. Located
in New York and Pennsylvania, Stagecoach consists of four
natural gas storage facilities (Stagecoach, Thomas Corners, Steuben and Seneca
Lake) with a combined storage capacity of approximately 41
Bcf and three natural gas pipelines (MARC I, North/South and the
Twin Tier Pipeline) with a combined throughput capacity of
approximately 3 Bcf per day.
Crestwood and Con Edison were
represented by TD Securities as financial advisor and Latham &
Watkins, LLP as legal advisor.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains
forward-looking statements that are intended to qualify for the
safe-harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended. The words "expects," "believes," anticipates,"
"intends," "plans," "will," "shall," "estimates," and similar
expressions identify forward-looking statements, which are
statements of future expectations and not facts. Forward-looking
statements reflect information available and assumptions at the
time the statements are made, and speak only as of that time.
Actual results may differ materially from those included in the
forward-looking statements because of various factors such as those
identified in reports Crestwood
and Con Edison have filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, which are available through the SEC's EDGAR system at
www.sec.gov and on each party's respective website. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements. Crestwood and Con
Edison assume no obligation to update forward-looking
statements.
About Crestwood Equity Partners LP
Houston, Texas, based Crestwood Equity
Partners LP (NYSE: CEQP) is a master limited partnership that owns
and operates midstream businesses in multiple shale resource plays
across the United States.
Crestwood Equity is engaged in the gathering, processing, treating,
compression, storage and transportation of natural gas; storage,
transportation, terminalling and marketing of NGLs; gathering,
storage, terminalling and marketing of crude oil; and gathering and
disposal of produced water. Visit Crestwood Equity Partners LP at
www.crestwoodlp.com; and to learn more about Crestwood's sustainability efforts, please
visit https://esg.crestwoodlp.com.
About Con Edison
Consolidated Edison, Inc. is one of
the nation's largest investor-owned energy-delivery companies, with
approximately $12 billion in annual
revenues and $62 billion in assets.
The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and
services to its customers through the following subsidiaries:
Consolidated Edison Company of New
York, Inc., a regulated utility providing electric service
in New York City and New York's Westchester County, gas service in
Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens and parts of Westchester, and steam service in Manhattan; Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. , a
regulated utility serving customers in a 1,300-square-mile-area in
southeastern New York State and
northern New Jersey; Con Edison
Clean Energy Businesses, Inc., the second-largest solar developer
in the United States and the
seventh-largest worldwide, which, through its subsidiaries
develops, owns and operates renewable and sustainable energy
infrastructure projects and provides energy-related products and
services to wholesale and retail customers; and Con Edison
Transmission, Inc., which falls primarily under the oversight of
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and through its
subsidiaries invests in electric transmission projects supporting
its parent company's effort to transition to clean, renewable
energy. Con Edison Transmission manages, through joint ventures,
both electric and gas assets while seeking to develop electric
transmission projects that will bring clean, renewable electricity
to customers, focusing on New
York, New England, the Mid-Atlantic states and the
Midwest.
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SOURCE Consolidated Edison, Inc.; Crestwood Equity Partners