U.S. LNG operator Dominion Energy has entered into an agreement with Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners to sell a 25 percent non-controlling equity interest in Cove Point to Brookfield for just over $2 billion.
The agreement with the Brookfield Asset Management.controlled infrastructure fund is part of Dominion Energy’s previously communicated intention to establish a permanent capital structure for Cove Point, Dominion said in its statement.
Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG owns a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import, export and storage facility located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, Maryland, including a 136-mile pipeline that interconnects the facility with the interstate pipeline system.
These assets provide liquefaction, gasification, transportation, storage and peaking gas supply services to customers in the United States, India and Japan.
In 2018, the company completed a $4.1 billion expansion to enable natural gas exports.
The transaction represents an implied enterprise value of $8.22 billion, excluding working capital, and is supportive of the company’s existing operating earnings per share and earnings growth guidance.
Proceeds are expected to be used for general corporate purposes including significantly reducing the annual common equity financing described at the company’s investor day in March 2019.
Upon transaction close, expected by the end of 2019, Dominion Energy will retain full operational control of the facility and its services, and existing customers and employees will be unaffected by this recapitalization agreement, the statement reads.