Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. Completes Syndication of Financing for Acquisition of Southern Union Company
August 05 2011 - 12:45PM
Business Wire
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) announced today the full
syndication of the $3.7 billion acquisition financing provided by
Credit Suisse to finance the previously announced acquisition of
Southern Union Company (NYSE:SUG).
Following the closure of the syndication, the group of banks
financing the transaction now consists of: Bank of America-Merrill
Lynch, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, J.P. Morgan
Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland
plc, SunTrust Banks Inc., UBS Securities LLC, Wells Fargo
Securities LLC and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
John W. McReynolds, President and Chief Financial Officer of
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P., commented: “We are pleased to report
the successful completion of the acquisition financing syndication
to a group of strong financial institutions. This means that all
the major terms of the financing have been finalized without any
need for adjustment and is therefore another major step in reducing
future financial risk to ETE. Today’s news, combined with the
recent HSR clearance, demonstrates that we are on track to complete
this transaction in the first quarter of 2012.”
As previously announced, in connection with ETE’s acquisition of
SUG, SUG will cause the contribution of its 50% interest in Citrus
Corp. to Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) in exchange for
$2.0 billion, the cash proceeds from which will be used to repay a
portion of the acquisition financing and to repay existing
SUG-related debt to maintain appropriate investment grade credit
metrics.
Credit Suisse AG acted as sole administrative agent and Credit
Suisse Securities (USA) LLC acted as sole bookrunner and sole lead
arranger.
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) is a
publicly traded partnership, which owns the general partner and 100
percent of the incentive distribution rights (IDRs) of Energy
Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) and approximately 50.2 million
ETP limited partner units; and owns the general partner and 100
percent of the IDRs of Regency Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ:RGNC) and
approximately 26.3 million RGNC limited partner units. For more
information, visit the Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. web site at
www.energytransfer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may include certain statements concerning
expectations for the future, including statements regarding the
anticipated benefits and other aspects of the proposed transaction
described above, that are forward-looking statements as defined by
federal law. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a
variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other
factors that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond
the control of the management teams of ETE or SUG. Among those is
the risk that conditions to closing the transaction are not met or
that the anticipated benefits from the proposed transaction cannot
be fully realized. An extensive list of factors that can affect
future results are discussed in the reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) by ETE and SUG.
Neither ETE nor SUG undertakes any obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statement to reflect new information or
events.
Additional Information
In connection with the transaction, ETE and SUG have filed a
proxy statement / prospectus and other documents with the SEC.
Investors and security holders are urged to carefully read the
definitive proxy statement/prospectus when it becomes available
because it will contain important information regarding ETE, SUG
and the transaction.
A definitive proxy statement/prospectus will be sent to
stockholders of SUG seeking their approval of the transaction.
Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the
definitive proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other
documents filed by ETE and SUG with the SEC at the SEC’s website,
www.sec.gov. The definitive proxy
statement/prospectus (when available) and such other documents
relating to ETE may also be obtained free of charge by directing a
request to Energy Transfer Equity, L.P., Attn: Investor Relations,
3738 Oak Lawn Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75219, or from ETE’s website,
www.energytransfer.com. The definitive
proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and such other
documents relating to SUG may also be obtained free of charge by
directing a request to Southern Union Company, Attn: Investor
Relations, 5444 Westheimer Road, Houston, Texas 77056, or from
SUG’s website, www.sug.com.
ETE, SUG and their respective directors and executive officers
may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed to be “participants” in
the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed
transaction. Information concerning the interests of the persons
who may be “participants” in the solicitation will be set forth in
the definitive proxy statement/prospectus when it becomes
available.
The information contained in this press release is available on
the ETE web site at www.energytransfer.com.
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