June 23, 2014 [Reuters] - VTTI Energy Partners LP, an oil and gas storage and terminal company, filed with U.S. regulators on Thursday to raise up to $420 million in an initial public offering of common units.
London-based VTTI listed Citigroup and J.P. Morgan as lead underwriters to its IPO.
The company owns, develops and acquires refined petroleum products and related energy infrastructure assets.
VTTI Energy has a 36 percent stake in VTTI Operating, which owns six terminals, 396 tanks and has about 35.5 million barrels of refined petroleum and crude oil storage capacity spread across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.
VTTI Energy is a master limited partnership (MLP) that is 50 percent owned by Switzerland-based oil trader Vitol.
The MLP structure allows companies to raise money in the stock market while having income taxed only at the unit holder level, avoiding corporate income taxes.
Shell Midstream Partners LP, a master limited partnership formed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, filed for an initial public offering of up to $750 million on Wednesday.
MLPs that hold midstream assets, such as pipelines and storage facilities, have found favor with investors since they distribute most of their earnings to shareholders.
Shares of Viper Energy Partners LP, an affiliate of oil and gas company Diamondback Energy Inc, rose as much as 32 percent in their market debut on Wednesday.
VTTI’s filing did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price.
The company intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “VTTI”.
The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.
