Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners has pans to sell Southern Star Central Corporation, a Kentucky-based natural gas transmission system operator.

Southern Star is a transporter of natural gas to America's heartland, with about 6,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline in the Midwest and Mid-Continent regions of the United States. Their pipeline system, facilities and employees are located in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas, with their headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Tudor Pickering Holt & Co., which is working on the sale, has recently sent offering documents to potential bidders. According to sources, several companies could be interested in the natural gas operator:

• Tallgrass Energy Partners LP
• TransCanada Corp.
• Williams Cos.
• Spectra Energy Corp.
• Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP
• Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec
• Macquarie Group Ltd.

The transaction value is estimated at US$1.5 billion. 

We have recently reported about several M&A transactions in the infrastructure sector in the USA:

• Cube Hydro Partners acquires ten US run-of-the-river hydro facilities from Harbor Hydro
• Macquarie Infrastructure Company acquires Bayonne Energy Center
• HDR Engineering acquires ICA and MEI
• ISQ infra fund acquires hydropower firm Lyonsdale Associates
• Energy Capital Partners acquires Wheelebrator Technologies
• J.P. Morgan Asset Management acquires two wind farms in the U.S