Western Gas Partners LP, the midstream partnership formed last year by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., had a modest debut Friday in an overall down day for the stock market. The initial public offering (IPO) opened and closed at the same price: $16.50/unit.

Anadarko had expected the offering of 18.8 million units to be priced between $17 and $19, which was down from last year’s estimate of $20-22/unit. Anadarko announced the spin-off last October (see Daily GPI, Oct. 16, 2007). Based on the IPO, Western Gas now expects to raise about $309 million before expenses. The offering is expected to close by Wednesday (May 14).

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last year, Anadarko said Western Gas assets initially would include:

Western Gas, which trades under the symbol “WES,” plans to use the proceeds from the offering to loan Anadarko $260 million in exchange for a 30-year note, which would reimburse the parent company for capital expenses, general partnership purposes and to pay for IPO-related expenses, which are estimated at $40.6 million. Unitholders of Western Gas would own a 35% limited partner interest. Anadarko would own the remaining equity interests.

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