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Announced late on Friday, it is the company's largest deal since
its record $29.4 billion initial public offering in late 2019.
The lease and leaseback agreement includes a 49% stake of newly
formed Aramco Oil Pipelines Co and rights to 25 years of tariff
payments for oil carried on Aramco's pipelines, it said in a
statement.
Aramco will retain a 51% stake in the new company.
EIG, which has invested more than $34 billion in energy and
energy infrastructure, was the deal's underwriter and will work
with Aramco in the coming days to decide on other parties for
the consortium, a source familiar with the deal said.
Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala is in discussions on being
part of it, a spokesman said.
Aramco will retain operational control of the pipeline network
and assume all operating and capital expense risk, the companies
said. The deal will have no impact on Aramco's oil production.
Aramco will also offer so-called "staple financing" which the
buyers can use to back their purchase, sources have told
Reuters.
"We will continue to explore opportunities that underpin our
strategy of long-term value creation," CEO Amin Nasser said.
Other bidders in the deal process included Apollo Global
Management and New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
U.S. asset manager BlackRock and Canada's Brookfield Asset
Management Inc stepped away from bidding, Reuters reported on
April 6, citing sources familiar with the deal.
Abu Dhabi's National Oil Co (ADNOC) has signed similar deals
over the last two years, raising billions of dollars through
sale-and-leaseback agreements tied to its oil and gas pipelines.
(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; additional reporting by Gary
McWilliams in Houston; editing by Diane Craft and Jason Neely)
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