Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A) is dropping down more assets to its midstream MLP, the company said Sept. 27.
In the dropdown, Shell Midstream Partners LP (NYSE: SHLX) agreed to acquire from Shell stakes in Gulf of Mexico (GoM) assets that further diversifies its portfolio, said John Hollowell, CEO of Shell Midstream.
For $350 million, the Houston company will buy an additional 20% equity interest in Mars Oil Pipeline Co. and a 49% equity interest in Odyssey Pipeline LLC.
Mars delivers crude from the prolific Mars Basin and the Amberjack system, offering 600 thousand barrels per day (Mbbl/d) of capacity into LOOP’s Clovelly facility. Odyssey has 220 Mbbl/d of capacity from the eastern GoM to the Delta Pipeline system, enabling deliveries to refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi.
"Both Mars and Odyssey build on our key corridor pipeline strategy in the Gulf of Mexico and are advantageously positioned to continue to capture growth of offshore volumes along our footprint of assets," Hollowell said in a statement.
Shell Midstream plans to fund the acquisition with a combination of cash on hand and borrowings under its credit facilities. The transaction is expected to close Oct. 3.
The terms of the acquisition were approved by the conflicts committee of the board of directors of the general partner of Shell Midstream, which is composed entirely of independent directors. The committee was advised by Evercore Group LLC as to financial matters and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as to legal matters.
The acquisition price reflects an estimated 8.4 times multiple of the forecasted 2017 adjusted EBITDA of the acquired interests and is expected to be immediately accretive to unitholders, according to the press release.
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