Williams Partners To Acquire Additional Interest In Utica East Ohio Midstream

(RTTNews) - Williams Partners L.P. (WPZ), which, through its subsidiary Utica Gas Services, currently owns 49 percent equity interest in Utica East Ohio Midstream LLC, announced it has agreed to acquire an additional 21 percent equity interest in UEO from a subsidiary of EV Energy Partners, L.P. (EVEP) for approximately $575 million. Williams Partners expects the fixed-fee business will be accretive to the company beginning in 2015.

Utica East Ohio Midstream is a joint project to develop infrastructure for the gathering, processing and fractionation of natural gas and natural gas liquids in the Utica Shale play in eastern Ohio. The company noted that the other member of UEO has the right to acquire a portion of EV Energy Partners' interests in UEO for the same price. If the other member exercises this right, Williams Partners would acquire an approximate 13 percent interest and the other member would acquire an approximate 8 percent interest.

EV Energy Partners expects the transaction to close by the middle of July 2015. Upon closing, EV Energy Partners intends to initially use the net proceeds of the disposition to repay all amounts outstanding under its revolving credit facility and to hold the remainder available for future activities.