Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (EEP) jumped 14% today, while Enbridge Energy Management, L.L.C. (NYSE: EEQ) popped 12% after the subsidiary announced the sale of assets.
So what: Enbridge Energy Partners is selling a 12.6% interest in its mid-stream natural gas business Midcoast Operating, L.P. to Midcoast Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MEP) for $350 million. This is a drop-down of assets. After the deal Enbridge Partners will retain 48.4% of the limited partnership Midcoast Operating.
Now what: One of the goals here is to increase liquidity to fund a multi-billion dollar liquids pipeline at Enbridge Partners while still holding an economic interest in the mid-stream natural gas business. Incrementally the deal will add liquidity, but the bigger driver of value long-term comes from a pipeline replacement plan that could cost $7.5 billion. At the end of the day, I don't think this fundamentally changes the investment thesis in any of these three companies, it just shifts assets around -- something oil and gas companies are doing a lot of these days.
