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Dec. 15, 2003
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) (referred to as "Enterprise"), GulfTerra Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE:GTM) (referred to as "GulfTerra") and El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) (referred to as "El Paso") today announced that they have executed definitive agreements to merge Enterprise and GulfTerra to form the second largest publicly traded energy partnership with an enterprise value of approximately $13 billion. The general partner of the combined partnership will be jointly owned by affiliates of privately-held Enterprise Products Company and El Paso Corporation with each owning a 50-percent interest.
The combined partnership, which will retain the name Enterprise Products Partners L.P., will serve the largest producing basins of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids ("NGLs") in the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico, Rocky Mountains, San Juan Basin, Permian Basin, South Texas, East Texas, Mid-Continent, Louisiana Gulf Coast and, through connections with third-party pipelines, Canada's western sedimentary basin. The partnership will also serve the largest consuming regions for natural gas, crude oil and NGLs on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The assets of the combined partnership will include over 30,000 miles of pipelines comprised of over 17,000 miles of natural gas pipelines, 13,000 miles of NGL pipelines and 340 miles of large capacity crude oil pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico. The combined partnership's other logistical assets will include ownership interests in 164 million barrels of NGL storage capacity and 23 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity, 6 offshore Gulf of Mexico hub platforms and import and export terminals on the Houston Ship Channel. The combined partnership will also own interests in 19 fractionation plants with a net capacity of approximately 650 thousand barrels per day and 24 natural gas processing plants with a net capacity of 6.0 billion cubic feet per day.
List of GulfTerra Assets
- Cameron Highway Oil Pipeline
- Constitution Oil And Gas Pipeline System
- Falcon Natural Gas Pipeline
- High Island Offshore Natural Gas Pipeline System
- Phoenix Gas Pipeline
- Texas Intrastate System Gas Pipeline
- Viosca Knoll Gas Pipeline System
"We are excited to announce this merger of equals to form one of the premier midstream energy companies in the United States," said O.S. "Dub" Andras, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise. "The assets and businesses of these two partnerships are very complementary. We believe the scale and business opportunities for the combined partnership will provide us with a number of avenues to create value for our partners and our producing and consuming customers."
"The value drivers from this merger include incremental organic growth and commercial opportunities, cost saving synergies, the elimination of the 50-percent incentive distribution right associated with GulfTerra's general partner interest and a contribution from Enterprise's general partner to Enterprise," stated Andras.
"We believe this is a compelling transaction for the unitholders of GulfTerra and Enterprise," said Robert Phillips, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GulfTerra Energy Partners, L.P. "We are combining two of the top performing energy partnerships to form a midstream energy company that has an attractive footprint in the major producing basins and that can provide a full array of services to both producers and consumers."
"We are pleased to partner with Enterprise in the creation of a tremendous midstream company," said Doug Foshee, President and Chief Executive Officer of El Paso Corporation. "Through our ownership of 50 percent of the Enterprise general partner and 14 million common units, El Paso's shareholders will participate in significant onshore and offshore opportunities. In addition, the $1.0 billion of net proceeds from this transaction will accelerate El Paso's debt reduction program."
The definitive agreements include three transactions. In the initial transaction, which will be completed and funded today, an affiliate of Enterprise's operating partnership will acquire a 50-percent, limited voting interest in GulfTerra's general partner, GulfTerra Energy Company, L.L.C., for $425 million in cash. Prior to the closing of this transaction, El Paso will reacquire the 9.9-percent ownership interest in GulfTerra's general partner held by Goldman Sachs & Co. As a result of this initial step, GulfTerra's general partner will be owned 50 percent by an affiliate of El Paso and 50 percent by an affiliate of Enterprise's operating partnership. An affiliate of El Paso will continue to serve as the managing member of GulfTerra's general partner, and the Enterprise affiliate member's rights will be limited to protective consent rights on certain transactions affecting GulfTerra or its General Partner.
In the second transaction, which will occur immediately prior to the merger, El Paso will contribute its 50-percent ownership interest in the GulfTerra general partner to Enterprise Products GP, LLC, the general partner of Enterprise. In exchange, El Paso will receive a 50-percent interest in Enterprise's general partner. The remaining 50 percent of the Enterprise general partner will continue to be owned by affiliates of Enterprise Products Company. The Enterprise general partner will then contribute this 50-percent ownership interest in the GulfTerra general partner to Enterprise for no consideration. In addition, Enterprise will pay El Paso $500 million in cash for approximately 13.8 million units, which include 2.9 million GulfTerra common units and all of the GulfTerra Series C units it owns.
In the final transaction, GulfTerra will merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enterprise, with GulfTerra surviving the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enterprise. Under the terms of the merger agreement, GulfTerra's unitholders will receive 1.81 Enterprise common units for each GulfTerra common unit, which represents a premium of approximately 2.2 percent based on the closing prices of their respective common units on December 12, 2003. The remaining approximately 7.5 million GulfTerra common units owned by El Paso will be exchanged for Enterprise common units based on the 1.81 exchange ratio. The GulfTerra common units acquired for cash will be cancelled and will no longer be outstanding after completion of the merger transaction.
"The actions taken by the Enterprise general partner to preserve its highest incentive distribution right at 25 percent and to contribute the 50-percent ownership interest in the GulfTerra general partner to Enterprise for no consideration are significant and immediate value drivers for this merger and enhance the cash accretion to the limited partners of both Enterprise and GulfTerra," stated Andras. "As a result of these actions and approximately $30 million of annual cost savings that we believe we can capture within the first year after the merger is completed, we expect to increase the cash distribution rate for the new partnership to $1.58 per unit on an annual basis upon the completion of the merger."
The completion of the merger is subject to the approval of the unitholders of both Enterprise and GulfTerra along with customary regulatory approvals including that under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Completion of the merger is expected to occur during the second half of 2004.
Concurrent with the closing of the merger, Enterprise will acquire nine natural gas processing plants from El Paso for $150 million in cash. These plants, located in South Texas, have historically been associated with and are integral to GulfTerra's Texas intrastate natural gas pipeline and NGL fractionation and pipeline systems.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, the board of directors of the general partner of Enterprise will consist of ten directors, of which five will be designated by each of Enterprise Products Company and El Paso. Three of the directors designated by each of Enterprise and El Paso will be independent directors under the criteria established by the New York Stock Exchange. The remaining directors designated by Enterprise Products Company will be Dan L. Duncan, the current Chairman of Enterprise's general partner, and O.S. Andras. The two directors designated by El Paso will be Robert G. Phillips, the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GulfTerra's general partner, and D. Dwight Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of El Paso.
Following the merger, the management of the general partner of Enterprise will be Dan L. Duncan, Chairman; O.S. Andras, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Robert G. Phillips, President and Chief Operating Officer.
Enterprise financed the $425 million payment to El Paso in the initial transaction from borrowings under its existing credit facilities and a $225 million acquisition credit facility. As previously announced, Enterprise plans to raise $100 million of equity in December 2003 through the issuance of Class B partnership units in a private placement with an affiliate of Enterprise Products Company.
Financial advisors for this transaction were Lehman Brothers for Enterprise, UBS Investment Bank for GulfTerra and Credit Suisse First Boston LLC for El Paso. Legal counsels were Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. for Enterprise, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. for GulfTerra and Andrews & Kurth L.L.P. for El Paso.
Enterprise and GulfTerra will host a conference call to discuss this transaction at 10:30 a.m. central time this morning. The call will be broadcast live over the Internet and may be accessed by visiting the company's website at www.epplp.com. Participants should access the "Investor Information" section of the website at least ten minutes prior to the start of the conference call to download and install any necessary audio
software.
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