TEP buys additional 33.3% stake in Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline for $700m

Tallgrass Energy Partners (TEP) has acquired an additional 33.3% stake in Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline for $700m.

The acquisition increases TEP’s stake in the pipeline to 66.7%.

Pony Express owns around 690 miles of crude oil pipeline starting in Guernsey, Wyoming, and terminating in Cushing, Oklahoma.

Delivery points are at the Ponca City Refinery and at Deeprock in Cushing.

Pony Express is currently undergoing open seasons to seek commitments for incremental crude oil transportation service estimated to start operations in the second half of 2016.

Interim capacity of around 100,000bpd will be available starting in mid-2015.

TEP president and CEO David Dehaemers said: "This acquisition furthers one of our commitments: to grow TEP’s cash distributions to its unitholders through dropdown transactions at attractive multiples.

"Consistent with our first Pony Express acquisition, we expect this transaction to be immediately accretive to unitholders and expect to recommend that our board of directors increase our distribution over the next two quarters by an aggregate of at least 15 percent, providing clear visibility toward achieving our previously announced distribution growth guidance of approximately 20 percent for 2015."

TEP has been established to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets in North America.

The company delivers natural gas transportation and storage services for customers in the Rocky Mountain and Midwest regions of the US via its Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission and Trailblazer Pipeline systems.