Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) announced today the full
syndication of the $3.7 billion acquisition financing provided by Credit
Suisse to finance the previously announced acquisition of Southern Union
Company (NYSE:SUG).
Following the closure of the syndication, the group of banks financing
the transaction now consists of: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, BNP
Paribas, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC,
Morgan Stanley & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland plc, SunTrust Banks Inc.,
UBS Securities LLC, Wells Fargo Securities LLC and Bank of
Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
John W. McReynolds, President and Chief Financial Officer of Energy
Transfer Equity, L.P., commented: "We are pleased to report the
successful completion of the acquisition financing syndication to a
group of strong financial institutions. This means that all the major
terms of the financing have been finalized without any need for
adjustment and is therefore another major step in reducing future
financial risk to ETE. Today's news, combined with the recent HSR
clearance, demonstrates that we are on track to complete this
transaction in the first quarter of 2012."
As previously announced, in connection with ETE's acquisition of SUG,
SUG will cause the contribution of its 50% interest in Citrus Corp. to
Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE:ETP) in exchange for $2.0 billion,
the cash proceeds from which will be used to repay a portion of the
acquisition financing and to repay existing SUG-related debt to maintain
appropriate investment grade credit metrics.
Credit Suisse AG acted as sole administrative agent and Credit Suisse
Securities (USA) LLC acted as sole bookrunner and sole lead arranger.
Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) is a publicly traded
partnership, which owns the general partner and 100 percent of the
incentive distribution rights (IDRs) of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P.
(NYSE:ETP) and approximately 50.2 million ETP limited partner units; and
owns the general partner and 100 percent of the IDRs of Regency Energy
Partners LP (NASDAQ:RGNC) and approximately 26.3 million RGNC limited
partner units. For more information, visit the Energy Transfer Equity,
L.P. web site at www.energytransfer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may include certain statements concerning
expectations for the future, including statements regarding the
anticipated benefits and other aspects of the proposed transaction
described above, that are forward-looking statements as defined by
federal law.