El Paso Pipeline To Pay $635 Million To Acquire Midstream Assets From General Partner

El Paso Pipeline Partners LP (EPB) agreed to pay $635 million to acquire midstream natural-gas assets from its general partner El Paso Corp. (EP), a deal revealed last month to be in the works.

Under the terms of the agreement, El Paso Pipeline will buy its general partner's remaining 14% interest in Colorado Interstate Gas Co. and acquire all of Cheyenne Plains Investment Co., which serves the Rocky Mountain region.

It will also assume roughly $242 million of debt.

The transaction is expected to close alongside Kinder Morgan Inc.'s (KMI) acquisition of El Paso and immediately add to the partnership's distributable cash flow.

Kinder Morgan, which transports natural gas and coal, agreed to buy El Paso in a cash and stock deal valued at $21.1 billion when unveiled in October. The acquisition would create North America's largest natural-gas pipeline operator.

Kinder Morgan earlier this year reached an agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to sell several midstream assets to gain regulatory approval for the merger. Kinder Morgan also agreed to shed its 50% interest in the Rockies Express Pipeline under that deal.

Shares of El Paso closed at $28.77 Thursday and were inactive premarket. Units of El Paso Pipeline were also inactive from their Thursday close at $32.50.

 
   -By Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3207; [e-mail]