Ares Management Corporation said that a fund managed by its Infrastructure and Power strategy has signed a deal worth around $286 million to sell its 22.5% stake in the Meade Pipeline to a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Partners.

Meade Pipeline holds nearly 39% stake in the 185-mile long Central Penn Line, a natural gas pipeline that starts from Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania and runs up to Lancaster County in the same state.

Central Penn is the newly built pipeline segment of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project operated by The Williams Companies via the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco). The pipeline began operations in October 2018, and via its interconnection with the larger Transco pipeline system has the capacity to transport up to nearly 1.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the northeastern Marcellus-producing area to markets across the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the US.

Ares Management to sell its stake in Meade Pipeline to NextEra Energy Partners. Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The deal also covers a future expansion opportunity that is likely to add a projected 0.6 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas capacity to the Central Penn Line by adding compression capacity at new and existing stations.

Keith Derman – Partner of Ares and Co-Head of Ares Infrastructure and Power said: “Our Meade Pipeline investment demonstrates Ares’ investment strategy to partner in the development of critical infrastructure assets, bring them online and ultimately create value for our fund investors.

BMO Capital Markets is the financial advisor to Ares Management’s fund for the deal.

The transaction is likely to be wrapped up in Q4 2019 and will be based on closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.

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