Asset manager IFM Investors will acquire pipeline operator Buckeye Partners LP in an all-cash deal for $6.5 billion, they said in a joint statement on Friday.
Under the terms of the deal, Buckeye shareholders will get $41.50 per common unit held. This represents a 27.5 percent premium to Buckeye’s closing price on Thursday.
The deal, which will expand IFM’s midstream energy infrastructure portfolio, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
“This acquisition is aligned with IFM’s focus on investing in high quality, essential infrastructure assets that underpin the economies in which they operate,” said Julio Garcia, IFM’s head of infrastructure in North America.
Buckeye’s midstream assets include 6,000 miles of pipeline along with a network of marine terminals located primarily in the East Coast and Gulf Coast regions of the United States, as well as in the Caribbean.
Shares of Buckeye were up 27.5% in premarket trading at $41.53.
