Veresen exits power-generation business

Article Excerpt

VERESEN $13.54 (Toronto symbol VSN; Shares outstanding: 313.6 million; Market cap: $4.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 7.4%; www. vereseninc.com) owns pipelines, power plants and natural gas-processing facilities across North America. Those holdings include 50% of the Alliance gas line, spanning the 3,000 kilometres between Chicago and Fort St. John, B.C.; and 50% of the Ruby pipeline, which runs 1,100 kilometres from Wyoming to Oregon. The company also owns the Alberta Ethane Gathering System and 42.7% of the Aux Sable liquids plant. Veresen reported strong cash flow of $0.20 a share in the three months ended December 31, 2016. That’s up 25.0% from $0.16 a year earlier. The company has now found buyers for its power generation business. Together, those sales will let it focus on its pipelines and gas-processing activities. From a total of three separate deals, Veresen should realize a gain of $1.18 billion. The company has yet to disclose the names of the buyers, but says the transactions should…