CALGARY, ALBERTA--Enbridge Inc. today announced that it has agreed to acquire the El Paso Corporation's 14.4% interest in both the Canadian and U.S. segments of the Alliance Pipeline. The purchase price for the pipeline component aggregates approximately Cdn$270 million, representing 1.1 times the book value of the interest.
Enbridge will also acquire the El Paso interest in Aux Sable and assume the AC Marketing support obligation for an aggregate payment from El Paso of approximately Cdn$11 million. Enbridge will not assume any of El Paso's direct natural gas transportation commitments in the pipeline. The purchase is subject to regulatory approvals and the rights of other Alliance owners to acquire their pro rata share of the El Paso interests.
Based on discussions with other owners, Enbridge expects to acquire an approximate 7% interest in the Alliance Pipeline for approximately Cdn$135 million. El Paso will compensate Enbridge approximately Cdn$8 million for the Aux Sable and AC Marketing interests. Taken together with the previously announced acquisition of The Williams Companies Inc. interest, Enbridge expects that upon completion of the El Paso transaction it will hold interests of approximately 38% in the Alliance Pipeline and approximately 31% in Aux Sable and AC Marketing. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2002 except for a small portion of the transaction which will be deferred until the beginning of 2003.
"This second increase in our ownership of Alliance further reinforces our North American natural gas transmission presence and strategy," said Patrick D. Daniel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Enbridge. "The price of the pipeline interest is attractive and will provide immediate accretion to earnings per share with low-risk, stable earnings and cash flow, and good long-term growth potential. The additional interest in Aux Sable and AC Marketing is contrary to our strategic preference, but is part of a package deal and is priced at a level which will be neutral to earnings even on very conservative assumptions."
The Alliance Pipeline is a 36-inch diameter pipeline with a capacity of 1,550 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. It extends 3000 kilometres from Fort St. John in British Columbia to Chicago, Illinois. It employs a "high pressure dense phase" technology to create higher transmission efficiency than traditional conventional gas transmission systems. Alliance commenced operations in late 2000. Enbridge was the first pipeline company to invest in Alliance and, in conjunction with a number of natural gas producers, seek to develop alternatives for accessing U.S. markets.
The Aux Sable natural gas liquids plant is located in Chicago, Illinois, at the outlet of the Alliance Pipeline. It extracts natural gas liquids to reduce the energy content of the gas to specifications required by downstream pipelines and natural gas distributors. The liquids are fractionated into ethane, propane and butane and sold at market-sensitive prices to a variety of customers.
AC Marketing holds long-term contracts for 75 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity on Alliance Pipeline. This capacity is used partially to provide transportation service to a number of upstream producers under term contracts, but primarily to supply the requirements of the Aux Sable plant for make-up gas and fuel.
Enbridge Inc. is a leader in energy transportation and distribution in North America and internationally. As a transporter of energy, Enbridge operates, in Canada and the U.S., the world's longest crude oil and liquids transportation system.
The Company also has international operations and a growing involvement in the natural gas transmission and midstream businesses. As a distributor of energy, Enbridge owns and operates Canada's largest natural gas distribution company, which provides distribution services in Ontario, Quebec and New York State; and is developing a gas distribution system for the Province of New Brunswick. Enbridge employs approximately 4,000 people, primarily in Canada, the U.S. and South America.
Enbridge's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and on the New York Stock Exchange in the U.S. under thesymbol ENB. Information about Enbridge is available on theCompany's web site at www.enbridge.com.
When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "believe", "estimate", "forecast" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which include statements relating to pending and proposed projects. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions pertaining to operating performance, regulatory parameters, weather and economic conditions and, in the case of pending and proposed projects, risks relating to design and construction, regulatory processes, obtaining financing and performance of other parties, including partners, contractors and suppliers.
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