Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) is expected to complete its acquisitions of master limited partnerships (MLPs) Kinder Morgan Management LLC (NYSE: KMR), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: KMP) and El Paso Pipeline Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPB) on Nov. 26 and that is likely to bring notable changes for some popular MLP exchange traded products.
It has been “has noted on multiple occasions that there are literally billions of dollars in closed-end funds and in ETFs that track MLPs. If the MLP-tracking sector does decide to keep Kinder Morgan Inc. shares in the portfolio, it is a big deal. If not, it is still a big deal,” reports Jon C. Ogg for 24/7 Wall Street.
As 24/7 Wall Street, Alerian, the index provider for the Alerian MLP ETF (NYSEArca: AMLP), the largest MLP ETF by assets, said Wednesday that Martin Midstream Partners (NasdaqGS: MMLP) and Valero Energy Partners (NYSE: VLP) will be added to the Alerian MLP Index, replacing El Paso Pipeline and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners.
Kinder Morgan Energy was AMLP’s largest holding with a weight of 10.1% as of Tuesday. Combined, Kinder Morgan Energy and El Paso Pipeline represented over 13% of AMLP’s weight as of Nov. 18.
The JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSEArca: AMJ), home to over $6.6 billion in assets under management, also tracks the Alerian MLP Index, meaning the ETN is also likely to reflect the aforementioned index changes. AMJ had a 9.6% weight to Kinder Morgan Energy and a 3.7% weight to Kinder Morgan Management as of Nov. 18, according to issuer data.
Driven by low interest rates, investors have flocked to MLP ETFs and ETNs in recent years with the over $22 billion currently held by the 23 such products trading in the U.S. being double the amount held just three years ago. [Big Year for MLP ETF Inflows]
Lost in the conversation about how MLP ETFs will treat the new Kinder Morgan is how prominent of a factor the combined company will become in cap-weighted energy sector ETFs following completion of the deal.
Pre-merger market caps as of Wednesday were: Kinder Morgan Energy Partners at $45 billion, Kinder Morgan Management at $13.5 billion and El Paso Pipeline Partners at $10 billion, according to 24/7 Wall Street. Add that $68.5 billion to Kinder Morgan Inc.’s current market value of about $42 billion and the result is $110.5 billion, meaning the energy sector’s largest deal since Exxon (NYSE: XOM) bought Mobil in 1999 is creating the sector’s third-largest company. [These ETFs Love the Kinder Morgan News]
Dow components Exxon and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and oil services giant Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) are currently the only U.S. energy companies larger by market value than the combined Kinder Morgan.
That means if the Kinder Morgan deal was already complete, the combined company would pass EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) for the fourth spot in the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLE), the largest energy ETF. EOG’s market cap is $53.7 billion, giving it a weight of nearly 3.9% in XLE.
AMJ Top-10 Holdings
Table Courtesy: J.P. Morgan