South Korean Consortium Acquires 50% Interest in Utopia Pipeline from Riverstone Holdings LLC
SEOUL, South Korea and NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shinhan Investment Corp. (“Shinhan”), Samtan Co., Ltd. (“Samtan”), EIP Investment Co., Ltd. (“EIP Investment”) and KDB KIAMCO (together, the “Consortium”), a South Korean-based consortium of infrastructure investors, and Riverstone Holdings LLC (“Riverstone”) announced today the Consortium’s acquisition of a 50% ownership interest in the Utopia Pipeline (“Utopia”) from investment funds affiliated with Riverstone.
Originating in Harrison County, Ohio and delivering to the Sarnia petrochemical market in Ontario, Canada, Utopia is a recently-constructed 268-mile pipeline that transports ethane sourced from the Marcellus and Utica shales. In 2016, Riverstone formed a joint venture with Kinder Morgan Inc. (“Kinder Morgan”) to construct Utopia. Kinder Morgan will remain the pipeline’s operator and continue its ownership in the joint venture.
Heejun (June) Park, President of EIP Investment, said, “Samtan is a leading energy company in Korea with significant experience investing in power and infrastructure assets around the world and Shinhan Financial Group is a leading financial institution in Korea. Samtan and the EIP Private Equity Fund, which is backed by Shinhan Financial Group, created a joint venture for this transaction to invest in Utopia in partnership with Kinder Morgan. This transaction represents a landmark investment for our funds and we are pleased to be partners with a world-class operator. Since 2017, there have been large inflows of investments in US midstream assets by Korean strategic and institutional investors, and we expect this trend to continue.”
John Jessup, Principal at Riverstone, commented, “Utopia is a unique midstream infrastructure asset that benefits from strong supply-push and demand-pull fundamentals. Riverstone is glad to have partnered with Kinder Morgan on this project, the success of which was made possible by their broad capabilities from commercial development to project execution.”
CIBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive financial advisor and Lee & Ko and Winston & Strawn acted as legal advisors for the Consortium. Additionally, the Consortium has entered into a credit agreement with CIBC Capital Markets, ING Capital and Société Générale to provide debt financing to support the transaction.
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Vinson & Elkins LLP acted as exclusive financial and legal advisors, respectively, to Riverstone.
About Shinhan Investment Corp.
Established in 2002 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, Shinhan is a leader in the Korean securities industry, providing full-service capital markets solutions locally. Shinhan is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Shinhan Financial Group. Managing approximately $500 billion of assets, Shinhan Financial Group has 15 subsidiaries and over 1,200 branch offices worldwide. The company is listed on both the Korea Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
About Samtan Co., Ltd.
Established in 1962, Samtan is a leading energy company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with over $2 billion in net assets. Samtan historically operated coal mining operations but has expanded via investments in downstream businesses that include coal-fired power plants, coal logistics and trading companies. Recently, Samtan established its presence in the CCGT and wind farm markets
About EIP Investment Co., Ltd.
EIP Investment Co., Ltd. is the investment arm of Energy Innovation Partners Inc. (“EIP”), a leading energy infrastructure advisory firm based in Seoul, South Korea. In 2019, EIP successfully launched its first $200 million semi-blind investment vehicle with a US partner. EIP mainly focuses on midstream, energy infrastructure and power generation assets in North America and other key OECD countries. EIP has successfully raised over $3 billion in capital, with approximately $1 billion of these commitments invested in the US midstream sector.
About KIAMCO
KIAMCO was founded in 2003 in Seoul, South Korea, and has grown to be one of the largest alternative investment asset managers in South Korea. KIAMCO has expanded its global presence through its investments in railways, energy, roads and intellectual property across the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and the United States. KIAMCO is a subsidiary of Korea Development Bank, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Government of South Korea. KIAMCO currently has approximately $10 billion in assets under management.
About Riverstone Holdings LLC
Riverstone is an energy and power-focused private investment firm founded in 2000 by David M. Leuschen and Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr. with over $39 billion of equity capital raised to date. Riverstone conducts buyout and growth capital investments in the exploration & production, midstream, oilfield services, power and renewable sectors of the energy industry. With offices in New York, London, Houston and Mexico City, the firm has committed over $38 billion to more than 160 investments in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Heejun (June) Park, President of EIP Investment Co., Ltd.,
hjpark@energyipartners.com
