Blackstone buys pipeline stakes in EQT from EQT at $3.5 billion

Blackstone, an alternative asset manager, said Monday it would purchase minority stakes in certain of EQT's pipelines through a joint-venture for $3.5 billion.

The sale will help EQT reduce its debt after it purchased Equitrans Midstream for $14 billion in July.

In premarket trading, shares of EQT rose by 3.9%.

Blackstone and EQT will form a joint venture worth about $8.8 Billion. This joint venture would include EQT’s ownership interests in the Mountain Valley pipeline and the Hammerhead pipe.

EQT stated that the JV along with its newly announced

Asset sales in Pennsylvania

The company would be able to leave 2024 with a net debt of about $9 billion.

As of September 30, the Pittsburgh-based firm had a total net debt of $13.6 billion. EQT announced in July that it would reduce its debt by $5 billion using cash generated through operations and asset sale.

Report on the Sale

Exclusively in October, pipelines will be available.

After a long legal battle, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is a 300-mile-long natural gas pipeline that runs from West Virginia to Virginia entered service in June.

The portfolio that is being sold includes EQT's stakes in the entity which owns the pipeline.

EQT stated that the Hammerhead pipeline can transport 1.6 billion cubic foot per day out of Pennsylvania's production sites.

The transaction should close within the next quarter. Reporting by Sourasis BOSE and Vallari SRIVASATVA in Bengaluru, editing by Maju Sam

(source: Reuters)