Williams Companies is looking for a partner to invest in a network of its pipelines in the western United States, a deal that could raise close to $5 billion for the Tulsa, Okla.-based company, according to a Reuters report, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The collection of pipelines Williams is purportedly offering a stake in are gathering and processing (G&P) assets. The investment would be larger than the joint venture that Williams clinched last year with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins of Appalachia, which gave the pension fund a 35% stake in the assets for $1.33 billion. The deal would underscore how pipeline operators are cashing out on some of their assets, so that they can pay down debt and put money into new projects, which have the potential to give them better returns. Williams Chief Financial Officer John Chandler said on a quarterly earnings call that it was "looking at potential opportunities for asset sales or selling interest in some of our assets" to help the firm reduce its debt pile.
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