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HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 14, 2009--
Western Gas Partners, LP (NYSE:WES) today announced that it has agreed
to acquire certain midstream assets located in the Uintah Basin in
northeastern Utah from Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) for
total consideration of approximately $107 million.
"We continue to execute our growth strategy by regularly acquiring
assets from Anadarko," said Western Gas Partners' President and Chief
Executive Officer Robert Gwin. "These assets will be an excellent
complement to our existing portfolio due to their predominantly
fee-based revenue stream, substantial organic growth potential and
location serving one of Anadarko's core strategic production areas. We
expect the acquisition to be immediately accretive to cash available for
distribution."
The acquisition is comprised of a 51-percent membership interest in
Chipeta Processing LLC ("Chipeta"), and associated midstream assets.
Chipeta owns the Chipeta natural gas processing plant complex, which
includes two recently completed processing trains: a refrigeration unit
completed in November of 2007 with a design capacity of 240 MMcf/d and a
250 MMcf/d capacity cryogenic unit which was commissioned in April 2009.
Chipeta provides processing services to Anadarko and third-party
production in the Greater Natural Buttes field and has current
throughput of approximately 375 MMcf/d. Following the closing of the
acquisition, Anadarko will retain a 24-percent membership interest in
Chipeta.
The acquisition will be financed primarily with debt, through the
issuance of a three-year, $101.5 million 7.00% note to Anadarko, as well
as through the issuance of 351,424 common units to Anadarko and 7,172
general partner units to Western Gas Holdings, LLC, the Partnership's
general partner, at an implied price of approximately $14.89 per unit.
Following the transaction, the Partnership will continue to have
substantial additional borrowing capacity, including $100 million of
availability under Anadarko's $1.3 billion committed credit facility.
The acquisition and financing transactions are expected to close in the
third quarter of 2009 and are subject to standard closing conditions and
adjustments. The terms of the transaction were unanimously approved by
the board of directors of the Partnership's general partner and by the
board's special committee, which is comprised entirely of independent
directors. The special committee engaged Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. to
act as its financial advisor and Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP to act as its
legal advisor.
Western Gas Partners, LP is a growth-oriented Delaware limited
partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) to own,
operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets. With midstream
assets in East and West Texas, the Rocky
Mountains and the
Mid-Continent, the Partnership is engaged in the business of gathering,
compressing, processing, treating and transporting natural gas for
Anadarko and other producers and customers. For more information about
Western Gas Partners, please visit www.westerngas.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Western Gas Partners believes that
its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions. No assurance,
however, can be given that such expectations will prove to have been
correct. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ
materially from the projections, anticipated results or other
expectations expressed in this news release. These factors include the
ability to consummate the transactions contemplated by this press
release; the ability to meet financial guidance or distribution growth
expectations; the ability to obtain new sources of natural gas supplies;
the effect of fluctuations in commodity prices and the demand for
natural gas and related products; and construction costs or capital
expenditures exceeding estimated or budgeted costs or expenditures, as
well as other factors described in the "Risk Factors" section of the
Partnership's 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission and other public filings and press releases by
Western Gas Partners. Western Gas
Partners undertakes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
Source: Western Gas Partners, LP
Western Gas Partners, LP
Chris Campbell, CFA, 832-636-6012
chris.campbell@westerngas.com