IEnova to buy out Pemex pipeline company stake

Mexican energy infrastructure firm IEnova, a unit of US based Sempra Energy, announced last Friday that it will buy out the 50% stake in the pipeline company Gasoductos de Chihuahua owned by Mexican state-run oil company Pemex.

In a statement, IEnova said that the cost of purchase is US$1.325 billion and upon completion of the deal, IEnova will be the sole owner of the company.

A finalised deal is expected in 120 days, pending approval by IEnova's shareholders as well as Mexican regulators.

Pemex said in a separate statement that the sale will allow it to "invest in strategic projects that are more profitable, reducing the need to take on debt."

Gasoductos de Chihuahua's assets include three natural gas pipelines, including part of the cross border Los Ramones pipeline in northern Mexico that is the country's most important new link to booming gas supplies in the US.

Other assets include an ethane pipeline, a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline as well as a LPG storage terminal.

Pemex and IEnova will keep a separate joint venture, Ductos y Energeticos del Norte, that is building another phase of the Los Ramones pipeline, both companies said.

The transaction

The transaction is expected to be about US$0.05 accretive to Sempra Energy's diluted earnings per share in 2016, growing to approximately US$0.10 per share by 2019 and is expected to be financed with a combination of debt and equity issuances at IEnova.

"This acquisition creates incremental value for IEnova and Sempra Energy shareholders by expanding our asset base and operating capabilities in Mexico," said Mark A. Snell, President of Sempra Energy. "It provides opportunities to leverage our resources and grow in the marketplace."

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/03082015/ienova-to-buy-out-pemex-pipeline-company-stake/