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CALGARY — The CEO of Inter Pipeline Ltd. says the Calgary-based company’s review of strategic alternatives announced Thursday could include the sale of its $4-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex under construction near Edmonton and expected to open in early 2022.
On a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results, Christian Bayle said Friday the sale of the complex was a possibility along with the corporate sale mentioned in a news release, but would say only that a broad range of options are being considered when analysts asked for more possibilities.
The review is in response to an offer by Inter’s largest shareholder, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, to take over the rest of the company for $16.50 per share, a price that values Inter at about $7.1 billion.
Brookfield said it has previously discussed prices with Inter “in the range of $17 to $18.25,” but would need to study its books to “substantiate” its growth potential and commercialization objectives for Heartland before increasing its offer.
Bayle says Inter plans to make public details of its commercial contracting activities and earnings expectations for Heartland “in the near term,” before it reports its first-quarter results.
He added the profitability of the project designed to convert abundant Alberta propane into polypropylene plastic pellets for export to manufacturers has improved recently, making it more attractive than ever to potential customers and the investment partner it’s been trying to find.
“The spread between propane and polypropylene has widened to approximately US$1,800 per tonne in January, roughly 35 per cent higher than the five-year historical average,” he said on the call.
“This strengthening in price materially improves the indicative economics for current and prospective propane and polypropylene customers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2021.
Companies in this story: (TSX:IPL)
The Canadian Press
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