Norton Rose Fulbright advises Plains All American Pipeline on US$1.2bn acquisition

Norton Rose Fulbright advised Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA) in the US$1.2 billion acquisition of a 100 percent interest in Alpha Holding Co., owner of the Alpha Crude Connector system.

The 515-mile Alpha system is the first large-scale crude oil gathering system in the Permian Basin and already connects to PAA’s Basin Pipeline system in Wink, Texas. After the deal’s expected close in the first half of 2017, PAA intends to make improvements to the Alpha system that will increase its capacity to 350,000 barrels per day.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, PAA is a publicly traded company that operates midstream energy infrastructure and provides logistics services for crude oil, natural gas and refined products.

The mergers and acquisitions team, led by Ned Crady, included Kasyn Stevenson, Samantha Speakmon and Stella Tang. Ron Scharnberg advised on tax issues related to the transaction while Ron Adzgery advised on benefits. Andrew Price and Rafe Schaefer handled litigation matters. Janet McQuaid (Houston) handled environmental aspects, and Dan Wellington (Washington, DC) handled antitrust considerations. Jane Snoddy Smith and Jeff Pettit (Austin) advised on real estate issues.