Funds led by Ares Management Corp.’s Infrastructure Opportunities strategy have acquired the equity interests in Meade Pipeline Co. from affiliates of XPLR Infrastructure, an independent power producer formed by NextEra Energy. The investment represents a total cash consideration of approximately $1.1 billion.
Meade owns approximately 40 percent of the Central Penn Line (CPL), a FERC-regulated, 180-mile pipeline that transports natural gas from prolific production zones in the Marcellus and Utica Shale in northeast Pennsylvania to demand centers in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast via interconnection with Williams Companies’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco). Transco is a joint owner of CPL and serves as operator of the pipeline via two separate long-term triple-net-lease agreements.
The pipeline began transporting gas in 2018 and, coupled with its Leidy South expansion that was completed in 2022, represents approximately 2.3 billion cubic feet per
