Tag Archives: Regency Energy Partners

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Energy Transfer Equity Announces Redemption of All Series A Preferred Units

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Energy Transfer Equity Announces Redemption of All Series A Preferred Units

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– EnergyTransfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE)announced today it has completed the redemption of all 3,000,000 of its outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred Units (“Preferred Units“) from Regency GP Acquirer L.P., an affiliate of GE Energy Financial Services (“GE Regency”).

ETE paid $305.9 million in cash to GE Regency as consideration for the Preferred Units, which represented principal and accrued and unpaid distributions payable thereon. Prior to the redemption, on March 28, 2013, ETE also paid GE Regency $40 million in cash in exchange for GE Regency relinquishing its right to receive any premium in connection with a future redemption or conversion of the Preferred Units.

The redemption of the Preferred Units, which were originally issued May 26, 2010 when ETE acquired the general partner and incentive distribution rights of Regency Energy Partners:

  • represents another important step in ETE‘s commitment to simplify its partnership structure;
  • removes a higher cost component of ETE‘s capital;
  • removes any overhang possibility that otherwise existed with the potential conversion of these Preferred Units into ETE common units; and
  • is another clear indication of ETE‘s financial strength and ability to optimize financial resources.

ETE entered into a $275 million short-term bridge facility to partially fund the redemption and expects to permanently finance the redemption as part of ETE‘s previously announced transactions to simplify its structure.

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) is a master limited partnership, which owns the general partner and 100% of the incentive distribution rights (IDRs) of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYS: ETP) and approximately 50.2 million ETP limited partner units; and owns the general partner and 100% of the IDRs of Regency Energy Partners LP (NYS: RGP) and approximately 26.3 million RGP limited partner units. The ETE family of companies owns more than 70,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, refined products, and crude pipelines. For more information, visit the Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. web site at www.energytransfer.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may include certain …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Energy Tangle: Making Sense of the ETP Holdco Buyout

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By Aimee Duffy, The Motley Fool

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Earlier this week Energy Transfer Partners announced it was buying Energy Transfer Equity‘s stake in ETP Holdco for $3.75 billion. ETE is the general partner to the master limited partnership ETP. That relationship, together with the similar names of all of these entities, can complicate one’s understanding of what exactly this acquisition means. With that in mind, today we’re going beyond the press release and breaking down this deal. For the sake of clarity, the Energy Transfer entities will be referred to by their respective ticker symbols.

Holdco refresher
ETP and ETE formed Holdco in October 2012 to jointly own the equity interests in Southern Union Company and Sunoco. ETE closed on the Southern Union merger in March of last year, while ETP closed on the Sunoco one in October. At the time of creation, ETE had a 60% stake and ETP had a 40% stake, though the majority board membership belonged to ETP.

Southern Union‘s assets are primarily natural gas pipeline systems. Its 15,000 miles include the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company, the Trunkline Gas Company, the Sea Robin Pipeline Company, Trunkline LNG Company, Southwest Gas Storage, and an operating interest in Florida Gas Transmission.

Energy Transfer previously announced that it was selling a portion of Southern Union‘s original asset base to Laclede for $1 billion. The assets involved in the divestiture were Missouri Gas Energy and the New England Gas Company. Additionally, ETE announced last month that it would sell Southern Union Gas Services to its other MLP, Regency Energy Partners , for $1.5 billion.

Sunoco’s assets include 4,900 gas stations and convenience stores and its stake in the midstream MLP Sunoco Logistics Partners . That stake is important; it is made up of 32.4% of SXL‘s limited partner units, as well as its general partner stake and incentive distribution rights. SXL‘s assets include more than 5,000 miles of crude oil pipelines, 2,500 miles of refined products pipelines, and 42 refined products terminals.

The other side of the deal
ETP obviously gets full control of all of the Southern Union and Sunoco assets. ETE will receive $1.4 billion in cash, and $2.35 billion in ETP units. ETE will forgo incentive distribution rights on the new units for the first eight consecutive quarters after the close. From there, it will receive 50% of the IDRs for eight consecutive quarters, then moving on to 100% receipt of IDRs.

Remember, many general partners forgo incentive distribution rights on big deals like this in order to give the MLP a chance to integrate assets and realize the commercial benefits of the transaction.

Foolish takeaway
Both Energy Transfer entities are touting this deal as a means to simplify organizational structure, and it certainly does that. Streamlining has been one of management’s goals, and following through on this is important. Especially given that one of management’s other goals is to increase distribution payments to investors.

Though its structure can be confusing, at its …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Energy Transfer Further Delivers on Commitment to Simplify Structure

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Energy Transfer Further Delivers on Commitment to Simplify Structure

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) and EnergyTransfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE),announced today that ETP will acquire from ETE its interest in ETP Holdco Corp. for $3.75 billion of cash and ETP common units. ETP Holdco is the entity formed by ETP and ETE in 2012 to own the equity interests in Southern Union Company and Sunoco, Inc. With this acquisition, ETP will own 100% of ETP Holdco. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.

In exchange for the interest in ETP Holdco, ETE will receive $2.35 billion of newly issued ETP common units and $1.40 billion in cash. ETE, which owns the general partner and incentive distribution rights (IDR) of ETP, has agreed to forego all of the IDR payments on the newly issued ETP units for each of the first eight consecutive quarters beginning with the quarter in which the closing of the transaction occurs, and fifty percent of the IDR payments on the newly issued ETP units for the following eight consecutive quarters.

The agreement between the partnerships is yet another important step in executing on their commitment to simplify their structures and optimize their asset portfolios. The announcement of the ETP Holdco acquisition by ETP follows the February 2013 announcement that ETP‘s Southern Union Gas Services (SUGS) assets would be contributed to Regency Energy Partners, and the December 2012 announcement that Southern Union‘s local distribution companies, Missouri Gas Energy and New England Gas Company, would be sold.

Following discussions with the credit rating agencies, ETP and ETE have received feedback that the transaction will have no negative effect on existing credit ratings at any of the entities.

Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) is a master limited partnership owning and operating one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States. ETP currently has natural gas operations that include approximately 24,000 miles of gathering and transportation pipelines, treating and processing assets, and storage facilities. ETP also owns general partner interests, 100% of the incentive distribution rights, and a 32.4% limited partnership interest in Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYS: SXL) , which operates a geographically diverse portfolio of crude oil and refined products pipelines, terminalling and crude oil acquisition and marketing assets. ETP also holds a 70% interest in Lone Star NGL, a joint venture that owns and operates natural gas liquids storage, fractionation …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The 25 Highest-Yielding MLPs in March

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By Dan Dzombak, The Motley Fool

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Dividend investing is popular again. Investors have taken to heart Jeremy Siegel‘s studies showing that higher-yielding stocks tend to offer greater returns over time than stocks that offer low or no yields do.

One particular area that has garnered interest over the years is master limited partnerships. Investors are drawn to MLPs for their high yields and tax deferment. MLPs don’t pay taxes at the corporate level, so the tax burden then gets passed to the investor. Without getting into too much detail, because of the structure of the partnerships and the distributions, investors are entitled to a serious tax deferral. Investors should fully understand what they are in for before buying MLPs, but for those willing to do the research, it can be very profitable.

The highest yields can be very tantalizing. As long as a stock yielding 15% doesn’t see its share price fall, you’ll make 15% in one year! In more cases than not, however, an astronomical yield is a bad sign for a stock. Since yields and stock prices move in opposite directions, a high yield usually means that investors have begun to worry about the business and driven down its stock price.

However, certain types of companies, such as MLPs, have to pay out most of their cash flow as distributions, so their yields will be higher than “normal.” Dividends are not guaranteed; you need to make sure that a business is generating enough cash to pay its dividend, or your investment could be disastrous.

I ran a screen for the highest-yielding MLPs. The only limitation I’ve set is that the MLPs must have a market cap greater than $1 billion.

Here are the top 25 highest-yielding MLPs the screen produced.

<td …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

 

Company Name

Market Cap (millions)

Dividend Yield

1

Northern Tier Energy

$2,887

16.20%

2

QR Energy

$1,018

11.20%

3

Natural Resource Partners

$2,428

9.95%

4

Ferrellgas Partners

$1,619

9.77%

5

Breitburn Energy Partners

$1,940

9.66%

6

PVR Partners

$2,181

9.65%

7

Eagle Rock Energy Partners

$1,407

9.21%

8

NuStar Energy

$3,897

8.75%

9

Legacy Reserves

$1,495

8.74%

10

Exterran Partners

$1,043

8.31%

11

Suburban Propane Partners

$2,436

8.20%

12

Crestwood Midstream Partners

$1,374

8.13%

13

Atlas Resource Partners

$1,136

8.08%

14

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners

$6,304

7.79%

15

PetroLogistics

$2,025

7.72%

16

Regency Energy Partners

$4,135

7.61%

17

Energy Transfer Partners

$14,200

7.59%

18