BlackRock and Morgan Stanley’s infrastructure businesses are acquiring a gas transmission system spanning New England – from the Canadian border to pipeline connections in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts – in a $1.14bn (€1.05bn) deal.
TC Energy and Énergir’s subsidiary Northern New England Investment, which own 61.7% and 38.3% interests, respectively, in the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) have agreed to sell PNGTS to BlackRock’s diversified infrastructure business and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners funds, in a deal which includes the assumption of $250m of outstanding senior notes held at PNGTS.
PNGTS is a 475km transporter of natural gas serving the upper New England and Atlantic Canada markets. The pipeline receives natural gas from the Trans Quebec and Maritimes Pipeline via the Canadian Mainline.
François Poirier, TC Energy’s president and CEO, said the deal represents “continued progress toward achieving our 2024 strategic priority of enhancing our balance sheet strength” by delivering approximately $3bn in asset divestitures.
“We are committed to reaching our 4.75 times debt-to-EBITDA upper limit by year-end and expect to have further asset divestiture announcements through the year.”
Poirier added: “This sale of a non-core asset at a strong valuation is a unique opportunity to support our capital rotation and deleveraging priorities while continuing to meet the needs of the communities PNGTS serves.”
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