Ares Management to acquire Meade Pipeline for $1.1 billion

Sept 29 (Reuters) - Ares Management ARES.N said on Monday its infrastructure funds have bought Meade Pipeline for about $1.1 billion, adding a key natural gas asset to its U.S. energy business as demand for power and gas surges.

The investment management company is buying it from affiliates of XPLR Infrastructure XIFR.N, a leading independent power producer formed by NextEra Energy NEE.N.

The deal deepens Ares' bet on energy infrastructure as utilities and investors look to secure reliable supplies of lower-cost fuel to backstop intermittent renewables.

"Driven by electrification, industrial activity and increasing LNG exports, we are witnessing tremendous growth in power and natural gas demand," said Steve Porto, partner at Ares Infrastructure Opportunities.

Meade owns a 40% stake in the Central Penn Line, a 180-mile pipeline that carries gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins in Pennsylvania to demand centers in the U.S. Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

Williams' WMB.N Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, or Transco, co-owns and operates the system under long-term leases.

The Central Penn Line, which began operations in 2018, can move about 2.3 billion cubic feet per day, including capacity from its Leidy South expansion completed in 2022.