Western Midstream Partners, LP (“WES” or the “Partnership”) (NYSE: WES) announced that one of its operating subsidiaries has signed an agreement to acquire Meritage Midstream Services II, LLC (“Meritage”) in an all-cash transaction for a purchase price of $885 million, subject to customary adjustments. Meritage, a privately held midstream company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, owns and operates a large-scale natural gas gathering and processing business in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. Completion of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Meritage’s assets, located in Converse, Campbell, and Johnson counties, Wyoming, include approximately 1,500 miles of high- and low-pressure natural gas gathering pipelines, approximately 380 MMcf/d natural gas processing capacity, and the Thunder Creek NGL pipeline; a 120 mile, 38 MBbl/d FERC-regulated NGL pipeline that connects to Meritage’s processing facilities. The Meritage assets are supported by more than 1.4 million dedicated acres from a diverse set of majority investment grade counterparties, with an average remaining contract life of approximately eight years. Following the integration of the Meritage assets, WES will be well positioned to compete for additional acreage dedications and business development opportunities from offset producers in the basin. WES expects the transaction to close during the fourth quarter of 2023. Given the uncertain timing of closing within the fourth quarter, WES is not updating its 2023 Adjusted EBITDA guidance range at this time.
“We are excited to announce the transformation of our Powder River Basin footprint with the acquisition of Meritage,” commented Michael Ure, President and Chief Executive Officer of WES.
“The addition of the Meritage assets meaningfully expands the financial and operational scale of our existing Powder River Basin footprint by adding significant producer inventory and further diversifying our growing G&P customer portfolio. The Powder River Basin has attracted investment from some of the largest E&P companies due to the basin’s multi-stacked pay horizon potential. Throughout 2023, a combination of large, independent E&Ps and well-capitalized, private companies have operated thirteen to fourteen rigs, on average, throughout the basin.”
“The Meritage transaction provides another source of steady, profitable growth for WES due to its long-term contracts with expansive acreage dedications and minimum-volume commitments. Based on the expected Free cash flow benefits of the acquisition, management expects to recommend a Base Distribution increase of $0.0125 per unit, or $0.05 per unit on an annualized basis, following the closing of the transaction,” Mr. Ure concluded.
Nick Thomas, CEO of Meritage commented, “Since 2013, Meritage has been hard at work building upon its brand as a leading midstream operator in the Powder River Basin, expanding its services into rich gas gathering, processing, and NGL transport. Through the unwavering dedication of our team, we have developed a best-in-class infrastructure platform driven by safe and intelligent operations and founded on strong relationships with our customers and stakeholders. Today’s announcement is a testament to the many years of focused efforts, and I am extremely proud of our team’s many accomplishments. We look forward to watching the combined WES/Meritage team continue to advance this generational asset.”
