Chesapeake Midstream Partners LP (CHKM) agreed to buy midstream
assets in the Marcellus Shale ultimately owned by Chesapeake Energy
Corp. (CHK) for $865 million.
This year, Chesapeake Energy--the second-largest U.S. producer
of natural gas behind Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and the country's
biggest gas well driller--has worked to sell assets and curtail
spending as part of a strategy to cut long-term debt by a
quarter.
Chesapeake Midstream said it will buy a unit that holds
Marcellus Shale midstream assets from a subsidiary of Chesapeake
Energy. The acquired unit gives Chesapeake Midstream a 47% holding
of an integrated system of assets consisting of about 200 miles of
gathering pipeline in the Marcellus Shale.
Chesapeake Midstream said in a release that the purchase makes
it the industry's largest gathering and processing master limited
partnership by throughput volume.
It expects the deal to close Friday.
Chesapeake Midstream was formed by Chesapeake Energy and private
investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners to operate gas
gathering systems and other midstream energy assets. It went public
last year.
The latest deal comes a little more than a year after Chesapeake
Midstream Partners bought Louisiana pipelines from a Chesapeake
Energy subsidiary for $500 million.
Neither Chesapeake Energy nor Chesapeake Midstream stock was
moving after hours, after the former closed down 86 cents at $22.66
and the latter closed up 29 cents at $27.12.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com