CALGARY, Oct. 8 /CNW/ - Keyera Facilities Income Fund (TSX:KEY.UN;
KEY.DB) ("Keyera") announced today that it has agreed to acquire an additional
40 percent ownership interest in the Keyera Brazeau River gas plant ("Brazeau
River") and a 100 percent ownership interest in the Nevis gas plant ("Nevis"),
a 150 million cubic foot per day sour gas plant, located in central Alberta.
In addition to these plant interests, Keyera is also acquiring extensive
gathering pipeline systems and compression at both facilities. These
acquisitions are key additions to Keyera's gathering and processing, NGL
infrastructure and marketing growth strategies. Brazeau River is located in
the foothills region of west central Alberta, an area currently experiencing
significant producer activity levels and a region that Keyera believes will
see considerable activity in the future. At Nevis, Keyera intends to integrate
the NGL fractionation and logistics infrastructure with its existing NGL
facilities and marketing business to enhance operational flexibility and
expand product supply.
The total cost of the acquisitions is approximately $129 million before
closing adjustments. The transaction is subject to normal closing conditions,
has an effective date of October 1, 2008 and is expected to close on December
1, 2008. Keyera has committed credit facilities in place sufficient to fund
the transaction, including a commitment for an additional $75 million
short-term credit facility if required at closing.
"I am extremely pleased to add these very synergistic assets to Keyera's
business and we expect the transaction will be immediately accretive to
per-unit cash flow. These acquisitions fit very well with our long-term growth
strategy of increasing our ownership interest at our existing facilities and
expanding our operations where we see opportunities for synergies with
existing Keyera infrastructure," said Jim Bertram, President and CEO of
Keyera. "The Brazeau River gas plant is a key facility for us in an area where
we have a number of new growth initiatives underway. Higher ownership allows
us to accelerate incremental business opportunities and the new gathering
systems significantly expand our capture area. In Nevis, we are acquiring a
sour gas processing facility with NGL fractionation and rail and truck
facilities, which we intend to integrate with Keyera's other NGL
infrastructure assets."Highlights of the Transaction
Keyera believes the highlights of the transactions include:
- Strong fit with Keyera's existing gathering and processing and NGL
infrastructure business strategies
- Immediately accretive to distributable cash flow per unit on a
capital structure neutral basis
- Well understood and easily integrated assets
- Establishes majority ownership of 91.6 percent in the Brazeau River
gas plant, one of Keyera's key gas processing facilities
- Enhances Keyera's sour gas processing capability. Nevis's NGL
fractionation and logistics facilities expand Keyera's NGL
infrastructure capture area and provide an additional source of
supply to Keyera's marketing business
- Increases Keyera's net sour gas processing capacity by 237 million
cubic feet per day, or approximately 17 percent, to over 1.6 billion
cubic feet per day, making Keyera the largest sour gas processor in
Alberta
- Synergistic with current and future organic growth opportunities in
all three of Keyera's business linesGas Processing Facility Details
Brazeau River Gas Plant: Keyera is acquiring an additional 40 percent
ownership interest in Brazeau River, bringing its ownership in the plant to
91.6 percent. Brazeau River is a 218 million cubic foot per day sour gas plant
with 466 tonnes per day of sulphur handling capacity and liquids extraction
capabilities. Keyera is also acquiring a 49.7 percent ownership interest in
the acid gas injection functional unit at Brazeau River, bringing its interest
in that unit to 99.5 percent. With respect to gas gathering systems, Keyera is
acquiring an additional 40 percent interest in the South and North
interconnect pipelines, bringing its interest in these pipelines to
100 percent. It is also acquiring a 363 kilometre gathering system and four
associated compression facilities, most of which are wholly owned. In
addition, Keyera is acquiring a 13.6 percent interest in the Brazeau North Gas
Gathering System, to bring its ownership to 43.7 percent.
Nevis Gas Plant: Keyera is acquiring 100 percent of Nevis and
354 kilometres of gathering pipelines and associated compression facilities.
Nevis is a 150 million cubic foot per day sour gas plant with 300 tonnes per
day of sulphur handling facilities. The plant also has 6,500 barrels per day
of NGL fractionation capacity, with NGL rail and truck facilities, further
strengthening Keyera's existing NGL infrastructure in western Canada.
About Keyera Facilities Income Fund
Keyera Facilities Income Fund (TSX:KEY.UN; KEY.DB) operates one of the
largest natural gas midstream businesses in Canada. Its business consists of
natural gas gathering and processing as well as the processing,
transportation, storage and marketing of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude
oil midstream activities.
Keyera's gas processing plants and associated facilities are
strategically located in the west central and foothills natural gas production
areas of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Its NGL and crude oil
infrastructure includes pipelines, terminals and processing and storage
facilities in Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, a major North American
NGL hub. Keyera markets propane, butane and condensate to customers in Canada
and the United States.
Advisory
This document contains forward-looking statements that involve known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Keyera's control.
The forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations
and assumptions relating to Keyera's business and the environment in which it
operates. As the results or events predicted or implied in these
forward-looking statements depend upon future events, actual results or events
may differ materially from those predicted. Some of the factors which could
cause actual results or events to differ materially include Keyera's ability
to successfully implement planned initiatives, whether those initiatives yield
the expected benefits, the impact of government and industry initiatives,
operating and other costs, future operating results, fluctuations in the
demand for natural gas, NGLs and crude oil, the activities of producers,
competitors and others, the weather, overall economic conditions and other
known or unknown factors. There can be no assurance that the results or
developments anticipated by Keyera will be realized or that they will have the
expected consequences for or effects on Keyera. For additional information on
these and other factors, see Keyera's public filings on www.sedar.com. Unless
otherwise required by applicable laws, Keyera does not intend to publicly
update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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