Western Gas Partners to buy Springfield Pipeline from Anadarko for $750 mln

Publicly traded Western Gas Partners LP agreed to acquire a 100 percent interest in Springfield Pipeline LLC from Anadarko Petroleum Corp for $750 million. Springfield owns a 50.1 percent share in an oil and gas gathering system in south Texas. Western Gas will finance the purchase through the issuance of 8.5 percent perpetual convertible preferred units valued at $449 million to First Reserve Advisors LLC and Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP.  It will also issue Western Gas common units at $29.91 each to Anadarko and Western Gas Equity Partners LP and it will borrow $247.5 million on its revolving credit facility.

PRESS RELEASE

HOUSTON, Feb. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Western Gas Partners, LP (NYSE:  WES) (“WES” or the “Partnership”) today announced that it has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in Springfield Pipeline LLC (“Springfield”) from Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for $750.0 million. Springfield’s sole asset is a 50.1% interest in the Springfield oil and gas gathering system (the “Springfield system”), which gathers Anadarko’s and its partners’ Eagleford shale production in South Texas. The Springfield system consists of 548 miles of gas gathering lines with a capacity of 795 MMcf/d and 241 miles of oil gathering lines with a capacity of 130 MBbls/d, located in Dimmit, La Salle, Maverick and Webb Counties in South Texas. The assets to be acquired also include 24 compressor stations with centralized delivery points, 260,000 barrels of oil storage capacity and 75,000 Bbls/d of stabilization capacity.

The Springfield system generates 100% fee-based revenues through gathering agreements with four shippers having primary terms through December 31, 2034. Furthermore, approximately 75% of the annual volume forecast for the system is covered under minimum volume commitments from the four shippers throughout the term of the agreements. The transaction is expected to close by March 15, 2016, and will be immediately accretive to the Partnership, with the acquisition price representing an approximate 5.8 times multiple of the assets’ forecasted 2016 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “This acquisition is a natural complement to our existing portfolio,” said Chief Executive Officer, Don Sinclair. “It is highly accretive to our distributable cash flow with limited volumetric risk, and marks our entry into the crude oil gathering and stabilization business, which offers us further business diversification.”

The Partnership intends to finance the acquisition through the issuance of $449 million in aggregate amount of 8.5% perpetual convertible preferred units (the “Preferred Units”) to First Reserve Advisors, L.L.C. and Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., at a price of $32.00 per unit, the issuance of 1,253,761 and 835,841 WES common units at a price of $29.91 per common unit to Anadarko and Western Gas Equity Partners, LP (NYSE: WGP) (“WGP”), respectively, and the borrowing of $247.5 million on its revolving credit facility. The Preferred Units issuance includes an overallotment feature that may result in the issuance of up to an additional $252.6 million in aggregate amount of such units over the next 30 days, the net proceeds of which would be used to pay down the revolving credit facility borrowings. The Preferred Units will pay a distribution of $2.72 per year. After two years, the Preferred Units are convertible at the purchasers’ option into WES common units on a one for one basis (subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments), and are convertible at WES’s option in certain circumstances after three years. WGP will fund its WES unit purchase by drawing on a secured revolving credit facility that will close on or before the transaction closing date.

The terms of the acquisition were unanimously approved by the board of directors of the Partnership’s general partner, and by the board’s special committee, which is comprised entirely of independent directors. The Partnership’s special committee engaged Evercore Partners to act as its financial advisor and Bracewell LLP to act as its legal advisor. The WGP special committee engaged Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated to act as its financial advisor and Baker Botts L.L.P. to act as its legal advisor with respect to its purchase of WES common units.

FOURTH-QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR 2015 RESULTS

The Partnership and Western Gas Equity Partners, LP (NYSE:  WGP) (“WGP”) today also announced fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 financial and operating results. “2015 was another year in which WES generated strong results,” said Sinclair. “We delivered 15% distribution growth with a solid coverage ratio of 1.1 times, while maintaining investment grade credit metrics. We also exceeded the midpoint of our Adjusted EBITDA guidance despite losing a month of operations at our DBM complex due to the incident at the Ramsey plant and the divestment of our Dew and Pinnacle systems in July.”

Net income (loss) available to limited partners for both the Partnership and WGP includes the following: (i) impairment expense of $236.7 million and $501.1 million for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015, respectively, related to impairments at the Red Desert complex and the Hilight system, (ii) a net gain of $77.3 million associated with the divestiture of the Dew and Pinnacle systems in July 2015 and (iii) $20.3 million of net property losses associated with the incident at the DBM complex in December 2015. These items are excluded from the Partnership’s non-GAAP(1) measures.

WESTERN GAS PARTNERS, LP

Net income (loss) available to limited partners for 2015 totaled $(256.3) million, or $(1.95) per common unit (diluted), with full-year 2015 Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $758.0 million and full-year 2015 Distributable cash flow(1)of $636.4 million.

Net income (loss) available to limited partners for the fourth quarter of 2015 totaled $(219.2) million, or $(1.60)per common unit (diluted), with fourth-quarter 2015 Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $188.7 million and fourth-quarter 2015 Distributable cash flow(1) of $162.2 million.

WES paid a quarterly distribution of $0.800 per unit for the fourth quarter of 2015. This distribution represented a 3% increase over the prior quarter’s distribution and a 14% increase over the fourth-quarter 2014 distribution of $0.700 per unit. The full-year 2015 distribution of $3.050 per unit represented a 15% increase over the full-year 2014 distribution of $2.650 per unit. The fourth-quarter 2015 Coverage ratio(1) of 1.06 times was based on the quarterly distribution of $0.800 per unit. The Partnership’s Coverage ratio(1) for full-year 2015 was 1.11 times.

Total throughput attributable to WES for natural gas assets for the fourth quarter of 2015 averaged 3.6 Bcf/d, which was 4% below the prior quarter and 1% above the fourth quarter of 2014. Total fourth quarter throughput was flat with the prior quarter when adjusted for the divestiture of the Dew and Pinnacle systems in July 2015 and the loss of volumes at the DBM complex in December 2015. For the full-year 2015, total throughput attributable to WES for natural gas assets averaged 3.9 Bcf/d, which was 8% above the prior-year average. Total throughput for crude/NGL assets for the fourth quarter of 2015 averaged 142 MBbls/d, which was 2% below the prior quarter and 8% above the fourth quarter of 2014. For full-year 2015, total throughput for crude/NGL assets averaged 138 MBbls/d, which was 19% above the prior-year average.

Capital expenditures attributable to WES, including equity investments but excluding acquisitions, totaled $129.3 million on a cash basis and $119.9 million on an accrual basis during the fourth quarter of 2015, with maintenance capital expenditures on a cash basis of $12.7 million, or 7% of Adjusted EBITDA(1). For the full-year 2015, capital expenditures attributable to WES, including equity investments but excluding acquisitions, totaled $604.3 million on a cash basis and $536.4 million on an accrual basis, with maintenance capital expenditures on a cash basis of $49.3 million, or 7% of Adjusted EBITDA(1).

WESTERN GAS EQUITY PARTNERS, LP

WGP indirectly owns the entire general partner interest in WES, 100% of the incentive distribution rights in WES and 49,296,205 WES common units. Net income (loss) available to limited partners for 2015 totaled $86.1 million, or $0.39 per common unit (diluted). Net income (loss) available to limited partners for the fourth quarter of 2015 totaled $(30.8) million, or $(0.14) per common unit (diluted).

WGP paid a quarterly distribution of $0.40375 per unit for the fourth quarter of 2015. This distribution represented a 6% increase over the prior quarter’s distribution and a 29% increase over the fourth-quarter 2014 distribution of $0.31250. The full-year 2015 distribution of $1.49125 per unit represented a 33% increase over the full-year 2014 distribution. WGP received distributions from WES of $89.2 million attributable to the fourth quarter and will pay $88.4 million in distributions for the same period.

2016 WES OUTLOOK

WES and WGP also announced their 2016 outlook:

• Adjusted EBITDA(1) between $860 million and $950 million
• Total capital expenditures (including equity investments but excluding acquisitions) between $450 million and $490 million
• Maintenance capital expenditures between 7% and 10% of Adjusted EBITDA(1)
• Distribution Coverage ratio(1) of 1.1 times
• WES distribution growth of 10%
• WGP distribution growth of 20%

“2016 will be even more challenging for our industry than 2015. However, with the support of Anadarko and the strength of our portfolio, we believe we can continue to deliver meaningful distribution growth even in this commodity price environment,” said Sinclair. “As you would expect, the estimated size of our capital program will be lower than 2015, but even with this decline, we feel very fortunate to have ongoing projects in the prolific Delaware Basin. As commodity prices improve, we expect to see additional projects materialize in our key areas of operation.”

The 2016 outlook includes:

• Full-year results from the Springfield acquisition;
• No further acquisitions in 2016;
• Start-ups of Ramsey Trains IV and V at the DBM complex in the second and third quarters of 2016, respectively;
• Ramsey Train III returning to limited service in April and full service in conjunction with the start-up of Train IV; and
• Recovery of all business interruption insurance proceeds related to losses at the DBM complex by the end of the year.

WES and WGP will host a joint conference call on Thursday, February 25, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. Central Standard Time (12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results and the outlook for 2016. Individuals who would like to participate should dial 844-836-8745 (Domestic) or 412-317-5439 (International) approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled conference call time. Pre-registration is available through the investor relations page at www.westerngas.com. Pre-registrants will be issued a personal identification number to use when dialing in to the live conference call, which will enable the participant to bypass the operator and gain immediate access to the call. To access the live audio webcast of the conference call, please visit the investor relations section of the Partnership’s website at www.westerngas.com. A replay of the conference call will also be available on the website for two weeks following the call.

Western Gas Partners, LP (“WES”) is a growth-oriented Delaware master limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to acquire, own, develop and operate midstream energy assets. With midstream assets located in the Rocky Mountains, the Mid-Continent, North-central Pennsylvania and Texas, WES is engaged in the business of gathering, processing, compressing, treating and transporting natural gas, condensate, natural gas liquids and crude oil for Anadarko, as well as for other producers and customers.

Western Gas Equity Partners, LP (“WGP”) is a Delaware master limited partnership formed by Anadarko to own the following types of interests in WES: (i) the general partner interest and all of the incentive distribution rights in WES, both owned through WGP’s 100% ownership of WES’s general partner, and (ii) a significant limited partner interest in WES.

For more information about Western Gas Partners, LP and Western Gas Equity Partners, LP, please visit www.westerngas.com.