MPLX LP agreed to buy MarkWest Energy Partners LP, the second-biggest US processor of natural gas, for about $15.8 billion in stock and cash excluding debt.
The acquisition will be a “unit-for-unit” tax-free transaction including a one-time cash payment to MarkWest unit-holders, MPLX said Monday in a statement.
MPLX is the master-limited partnership formed by Marathon Petroleum, the owner of six refineries in the Midwest and along the Gulf Coast, including a Texas City refinery.
The proposed deal combines the largest processor of gas in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions of Pennsylvania and Ohio with a growing oil and refined products partnership, according to the statement.
Under the merger agreement, MarkWest common unit holders will receive 1.09 MPLX common units and a one-time cash payment of $3.37 a MarkWest unit, or the equivalent of $78.64 a unit, a 32 premium to the July 10 closing price.
Full content: The Financial Times
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