M&A

Royal Dutch Shell plc has agreed to sell its stakes in oilsands producer Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. for about C$4.3 billion ($3.3 billion), nearly completing a $30 billion divestment goal.

In a move to hedge against the ultimate possibility that its long-delayed Northern Access natural gas expansion project won’t become a reality, National Fuel Gas Co. (NFG) on Friday announced a deal to anchor a Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) expansion by committing to 300 MMcf/d of firm transportation.

Marathon Petroleum Corp. on Monday agreed to take over Andeavor, a combination that would create a powerful U.S. refining, marketing and midstream company that, among other things, builds a massive Permian Basin footprint.

Houston engineering and construction giant McDermott International Inc. announced preliminary plans as it prepares to complete a merger with crosstown CB&I on Monday only days after Subsea 7 SA launched a hostile takeover bid, but only for McDermott.

CenterPoint Energy Inc., a natural gas and electric utility based in Houston, said it plans to acquire Vectren Corp. in a deal valued at $6 billion.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) is scheduled to hold public hearings on April 23-24 regarding Toronto-based Hydro One Ltd.’s $5.3 billion acquisition of Spokane, WA-based utility Avista Corp. Under the proposed acquisition, Avista would become a subsidiary, while retaining its independence as a natural gas and electric utility. The UTC said it had received 45 comments, with 41 opposed to the transaction. The deal also needs approval by federal authorities and from Oregon and Idaho, where Avista also operates.

In Washington state a settlement has been reached in the $5.3 billion acquisition of Spokane, WA-based natural gas and power distributor Avista Corp. by Ontario-based Hydro One Ltd., a former provincial Crown company that is now investor-controlled.

American Midstream Partners LP (AMID) is close to creating a Gulf Coast energy powerhouse after Southcross Energy Partners LP unitholders approved a proposed merger.

Tallgrass Energy GP LP(TEGP) has agreed to acquire Tallgrass Energy Partners LP (TEP) in an all stock deal. TEGP would acquire 47.6 million TEP common units from the public in exchange for 2 TEGP Class A shares for each outstanding common unit. As a result, TEP’s incentive distribution rights would be cancelled and its common units would no longer be publicly traded. The merger is expected to close by 2Q2018. TEGP would change its name to Tallgrass Energy LP and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TGE.” CEO David Dehaemers Jr. said “eliminating TEP’s incentive distribution rights will immediately improve our cost of capital and will enhance our ability to compete for, and the returns generated by, acquisitions and organic growth projects.”