Enbridge to Buy Units for $7.1 Billion to Simplify Structure

Enbridge Inc. agreed to acquire the shares it doesn’t already own in three North American units for about $7.1 billion as the Canadian pipeline giant moves to simplify its corporate structure.

The rollup will also streamline Enbridge’s capital structures and bring all of its core liquids and gas assets under the umbrella of a single publicly-traded entity to the benefit of all shareholders and unitholders, the company said Tuesday.

The deals are part of a broader industry trend for pipeline companies to streamline their operations, such as folding in master limited partnerships, after tax changes made those structures less attractive to investors. Williams Cos., billionaire Kelcy Warren’s Energy Transfer and Loews Corp. have also been getting rid of their MLPs.

Calgary-based Enbridge said in a statement it will buy all remaining outstanding shares of Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc., which includes renewable-generation assets and the largest oil pipeline crossing into the U.S. from Canada, for C$4.7 billion ($3.6 billion). In a separate statement, Enbridge said it take ownership of master limited partnership Enbridge Energy Partners LP, and Enbridge Energy Management LLC, for about at $3.5 billion. Enbridge shares little changed at $34.39 at 8 a.m. in New York.