Kinder Morgan to Acquire Nextera Energy's Texas Pipelines

On November 6, Kinder Morgan (KMI:US) declared their intention to purchase the gas pipelines in South Texas from NextEra Energy Partners (NEP:US) for a sum of $1.82 billion.

Known as the STX Midstream Pipeline System, these consist of seven extensive, high-pressure natural gas pipelines that link the Eagle Ford basin to demand markets in Mexico and along the Gulf Coast. The system also includes a 90% interest in the NET Mexico pipeline in addition to operating Eagle Ford Midstream.

“This is a very attractive acquisition for KMI,” said Sital Mody, KMI President of Natural Gas Pipelines. “STX Midstream nicely complements our existing assets and will enable us to capture incremental opportunities serving LNG, power generation, LDC customers and exports to Mexico.”

With a market cap of around $37.05 billion, Kinder Morgan is one of the most prominent energy infrastructure firms in North America. In the past year, KMI stock declined by 8.66%. Kinder Morgan aims to close the deal in the first quarter of 2024.

On the other hand, NextEra Energy Partners’ CEO said in a statement, “Upon closing, the proceeds would be sufficient to pay off the outstanding project-related debt.” NextEra Energy Partners is a publicly traded subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. NEP has been on a relative decline, although seven analysts have given the stock a buy rating. On a more bullish note, the stock surged by 27.55% in the past one month. 

With its declining stock, two Congressmen sold KMI stock earlier this year. Rep. Rob Wittman and Rep. Michael Guest who sold the energy stock. Combined, these trades valued up to $80,000. In 2023, the only Congress member who traded NEP was Maria Elvira Salazar. The Floridian Representative’s spouse sold up to $15,000 worth of NEP shares on April 13, 2023.