“Vitol is an industry player,” Mark Easterbrook, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Dallas, said in an interview. “If you’re going to grow this partnership and get some value, you’re probably going to see it happen a lot faster with an industry player than with a hedge fund that’s probably going to have to put in more money to make it work.”
SemGroup Energy Partners and Vitol didn’t immediately return calls for comment.
Terms of the purchase weren’t disclosed. Vitol will acquire SemGroup Energy Partners’ general partner SemGroup Energy Partners G.P. LLC and the subordinated units. Combined, they will give Vitol a 38 percent stake in the partnership and operational control. The rest of the units are publicly traded.
As a master limited partnership, SemGroup Energy Partners is controlled by its general partner, which was a division of SemGroup LP. The general partner has a 2 percent stake, while the subordinated units account for 36 percent.
Tulsa-based SemGroup Energy Partners fell 5 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $5.45 yesterday in over-the-counter trading. The data was the latest available.
SemGroup Energy Partners said in a regulatory filing in August 2008 that it might not be able to stay in business because of difficulties building up its third-party customer base after the bankruptcy in July of its affiliate, SemGroup LP.
SemGroup LP, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, defaulted in June on a loan made by Manchester and Alerian Finance Partners LP and had to turn over the general partnership in SemGroup Energy Partners, as well as 12.6 million subordinated units, which Vitol is also acquiring. Manchester, an affiliate of Elliott Management Corp., later bought out Alerian.
SemGroup LP, the former parent, sought protection from creditors in July 2008, blaming a liquidity crisis caused by oil-trading losses and margin-call payments of $1.96 billion. The company said it has assets worth about $6.14 billion and debt of $7.53 billion.
In addition to the Cushing facilities, SemGroup Energy owns gathering systems in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas and 46 asphalt terminals in 23 U.S. states.
