Anschutz Cashes In Partnership Interests as Pipeline Shares Rise
WALL STREET WEST
Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, who lost a legal bid in California last week to avoid a civil lawsuit for allegedly aiding in securities fraud at Qwest Communications International Inc., has been unloading millions of dollars worth of units in another public company he controls, Pacific Energy Partners LP.
Anschutz, a director of Long Beach-based Pacific Energy, reduced his equity ownership stake in the limited partnership to 43 percent from 51 percent over the past several months, with the latest sale coming in mid-November. The company, assembled from Anschutz’s oil pipeline assets in California and Colorado, came public last year at $19.50 a unit. The units were trading above $27 each last week.
Anschutz sold 137,900 Pacific Energy units worth $3.7 million on Nov. 19, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. He also made three private sales in August that netted a total of $40.8 million.
All the sales were common units; Anschutz still retains 10.5 million subordinated units (late last week he transferred his remaining stake from the general partnership to Anschutz Corp.)
“They never intended to own any common units but because no over-allotment units were bought during the IPO the general partner ended up with these common units,” said Tom Lambert, Pacific Energy’s director of investor relations. “It was always the intent that these would be sold or redeemed over time.”
Separately, Pacific Energy announced last week that it would likely benefit from increased volumes of crude oil shipped through its pipes after Shell Oil Co. announced that it planned to shut down an oil refinery in Bakersfield.
The company said it “believes that this closure will result in a net increase in volumes shipped on the partnership’s pipelines.”
Kate Berry
Gores Buy
Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity LLC cemented its position as the largest privately held company in Los Angeles with the purchase last week of Hays Logistics, a supply chain company and unit of Hays Plc, for $174 million. The acquisition adds 16,000 employees to Platinum’s roster and brings Platinum’s revenue run rate to $5.5 billion.
Kate Berry
