Spectra Energy is No More – $28B Merger with Enbridge Complete
Last September MDN reported on a midstream deal with major implications for the Marcellus/Utica: Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. announced an all-stock deal to buy out pipeline operator Spectra Energy, based in Houston, for $28 billion (see Canadian Enbridge Buying US Spectra Energy for $28B). Spectra has a number of critical pipeline infrastructure projects under way or planned in the Marcellus/Utica region, including the planned Access Northeast pipeline to New England, the mighty NEXUS pipeline planned to span Ohio, the currently under construction Algonquin Incremental Marketing (AIM) pipeline project, and three projects (Access South, Adair Southwest and Lebanon Express) under way to expand one of the largest natural gas pipelines in the U.S. (and in the northeast)–the Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) pipeline. The update is that as of yesterday, Spectra Energy is no more. The merger is complete, and Spectra’s stock has stopped trading, and the name on the door has changed. Yes, this is a big, hairy deal for our region…
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As we pointed out to you last December, evil corporate raider Carl Icahn (invests in companies so he can fire a bunch of people, boost the stock and pocket the profit) had fired Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki (see 
In November rumors swirled that WGL Holdings, the umbrella company that owns Washington (DC) Gas Light Company and WGL Midstream, is considering selling itself to utility giant (and Spanish-based) Iberdrola (see 
As MDN told you in November, Patterson-UTI Energy, an oilfield services company with major operations in the northeast, is buying out and merging in Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) in an all-stock deal worth $1.76 billion (see 
In May, U.S.-based oilfield services company FMC Technologies announced they will merge with their much larger quasi-competitor, France-based Technip, in an all-stock deal that will create a new company called TechnipFMC worth $13 billion (see 
In October EQT announced a deal to buy Trans Energy, Inc., a public pure-play driller in the Marcellus in West Virginia, which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of EQT (see 
A kerfuffle erupted yesterday when Chapter IV Investors, a Charlotte, NC-based investment firm with investments in EQT, Range Resources and Antero Resources, announced it had sent a letter to EQT urging the company to consider merging with either Range Resources or Antero Resources. Chapter IV, which is essentially two big-money investors (W. Barnes Hauptfuhrer, Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager, and Ryan J. Jack, Partner), does not own enough stock in any of the companies (less than 1% in each) to throw its weight around like a corporate raider. Rather, it appears to be two investors attempting to grab the attention of these companies and their shareholders by issuing a press release (full copy below) with a plan they say would create a new Marcellus/Utica driller worth more than $25 billion. Obviously the value of investments for Chapter IV would go up under such a scenario–so there is self-interest at work here. However, we don’t detect any kind of bullying on the part of Chapter IV, like that of a raider Carl Icahn (successful takeover of Chesapeake Energy & Cheniere Energy) or Keith “Mini-Me” Meister (unsuccessful attempt to takeover Williams). Rather, it appears to be a couple of investors who believe there is an honest and good case for a combination of EQT with another company, and were willing to spend $500 on a press release to make their case. Are they right?…
Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) is the former Chesapeake Oilfield Operating company, the oilfield services subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy that Chessy spun out into its own company in July 2014 after it couldn’t find anyone to buy it (see 
Extreme Plastics Plus (EPP) has been manufacturing and installing well pad liners since 2007. Pad liners protect the ground from accidental spills of frack wastewater and chemicals used during the drilling process. Located in Fairmont, WV, EPP’s customers are in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. In order to expand, EPP raised an undisclosed amount of investment money from Hastings Equity Partners in 2013 (see 
Word has leaked out that WGL Holdings, the umbrella company that owns Washington (DC) Gas Light Company and WGL Midstream, is considering selling itself to utility giant (and Spanish-based) Iberdrola. The deal, if it happens, has implications for the Marcellus. Earlier this month MDN reported that WGL Midstream, which already is a 7% owner in the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, had upped its ownership stake to 10% (see