HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 25, 2012--
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP), today announced it has
signed a definitive agreement with an investment vehicle affiliated with
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., (together with its affiliates,
“KKR”) whereby KMP will purchase from KKR its 50 percent interest in the
joint venture that owns the Altamont gathering, processing and treating
assets (Uinta Basin in Utah) and the Camino Real Gathering System (Eagle
Ford Shale in Texas) for $300 million in KMP common units. El Paso
Corporation (NYSE: EP) owns the other 50 percent of the joint venture.
KMP anticipates this transaction will close subsequent to the completion
of Kinder Morgan, Inc.’s (NYSE: KMI) acquisition of El Paso, which is
expected to occur by the end of May.
“We are pleased to reach this agreement with KKR which, upon closure of
both transactions noted above, will increase Kinder Morgan’s ownership
in this joint venture to 100 percent—50 percent at KMP and 50 percent at
KMI,” said Duane Kokinda, president of Kinder Morgan’s intrastate
pipelines. Upon closing, the transaction is expected to be immediately
accretive to cash distributable to KMP unitholders.
Marc Lipschultz, KKR’s global head of energy and infrastructure,
commented, “Since forming our joint venture over a year ago, it has been
a pleasure partnering with the El Paso team on building out an exciting
midstream business. Today’s transaction with Kinder Morgan reflects the
strategic investments made by the partnership in both the Altamont and
the Camino Real systems, with both of these assets benefiting from
attractive long-term fundamentals. We are pleased to transfer our 50
percent interest in the partnership to Kinder Morgan, a world class
midstream operator that will continue to invest in these important
assets.”
With over 1,100 miles of pipeline infrastructure, the Altamont system
includes over 450 well connections with producers, and it operates a
processing plant with the design capacity of 60 million cubic feet per
day (MMcf/d) and a 5,600 barrel per day (Bpd) natural gas liquids
fractionator. The Camino Real Gathering System has 150 MMcf/d of gas
gathering capacity and 110,000 Bpd of oil gathering capacity.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: KMP) is a leading pipeline
transportation and energy storage company in North America. KMP owns an
interest in or operates approximately 29,000 miles of pipelines and
180 terminals. Its pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil,
CO2 and other products, and its terminals store petroleum
products and chemicals and handle such products as ethanol, coal,
petroleum coke and steel. KMP is also the leading provider of CO2
for enhanced oil recovery projects in North America. One of the largest
publicly traded pipeline limited partnerships in America, KMP and Kinder
Morgan Management, LLC (NYSE: KMR) have an enterprise value of over $40
billion. The general partner of KMP is owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc.
(NYSE: KMI). Combined, KMI, KMP and KMR constitute the largest midstream
energy entity in the United States with an enterprise value of over $65
billion. For more information please visit www.kindermorgan.com.
Founded in 1976 and led by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a
leading global investment firm with $59.0 billion in assets under
management as of December 31, 2011. With offices around the world, KKR
manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts
covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing
operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active
oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its
investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through
its client relationships and capital markets platform. KKR is publicly
traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: KKR). For additional
information, please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com.
This news release includes forward-looking statements. Although
Kinder Morgan believes that its expectations are based on reasonable
assumptions, it can give no assurance that such assumptions will
materialize. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements herein
are enumerated in Kinder Morgan’s Forms 10-K and 10-Q as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P.
Joe Hollier, (713) 369-9176
Media
Relations
joe_hollier@kindermorgan.com
or
Mindy
Mills, (713) 369-9490
Investor Relations
mindy_thornock@kindermorgan.com
www.kindermorgan.com
