US pipeline group Caliber Midstream ends sale process, citing low bids

8/6/2015

By MATTHEW MONKS
Bloomberg

Caliber Midstream Partners, a pipeline operator owned by First Reserve Corp. and Triangle Petroleum Corp., ended a sale process after failing to fetch a high enough price, according to people familiar with the matter.

Caliber was working with Credit Suisse Group to find a buyer, valuing itself at as much as $1 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process was private.

The sale had entered the final bidding round when Caliber’s advisers told suitors last week that it was ending the auction, one of the people said.

Part of the reason the sale fell through is because potential buyers were nervous about the production outlook for Denver-based Triangle, Caliber’s main customer, one of the people said.

Credit Suisse and First Reserve declined to comment. A representative for Triangle didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Triangle, which explores for oil and gas in the Bakken Shale basin of North Dakota, joined with First Reserve in 2012 to create Caliber, which operates a network of oil and gas pipelines as well as businesses that help transport and dispose of water used in the drilling process.

Triangle owns about 28% of Caliber, according to its latest annual report. The company has a market value of about $264 million.

Reuters reported in April that Caliber had begun interviewing investment banks to explore a sale.