Blackstone sells about 40% stake in Cheniere’s limited partnership

(Reuters) – Blackstone Group Inc said on Monday it would sell about 40% of its stake in liquefied natural gas producer Cheniere Energy Inc’s limited partnership to Brookfield Infrastructure and its own affiliated company.

The filing did not disclose the deal value, but a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, said that Brookfield negotiated a $34.25 per unit sale price that values the deal at $7 billion.

Blackstone will gain $5 billion from the stake sale, the report https://bloom.bg/2QlItms said.

Cheniere Energy, the nation’s biggest LNG producer, owns a 48.6% stake in Cheniere Energy Partner LP , while Blackstone CQP Holdco LP and the public hold the rest.

The sale comes as demand for the super chilled fuel has been recovering after the coronavirus pandemic hurt exports and forced buyers to cancel cargoes.

Cheniere is moving the development of its sixth train at Sabine Pass in Louisiana to the second half of 2022, from the first half of 2023. Train 3 in Corpus Christi, Texas, will be substantially completed in the first half of 2021, it said in August.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)