Explanatory Note
This Amendment No. 3 to Schedule 13D (this “Amendment No. 3”) amends and supplements the Schedule 13D originally filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 11, 2019, as amended to date, (the “Schedule 13D”), relating to the Class A Shares Representing Limited Partner Interests (the “Class A Shares”) of Tallgrass Energy, LP, a Delaware limited partnership (the “Issuer”). Capitalized terms used herein without definition shall have the meaning set forth in the Schedule 13D. Except as specifically provided herein, this Amendment No. 3 does not modify any of the information previously reported in the Schedule 13D.
Item 3. | Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration. |
Item 3 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended by inserting the following information at the end of Item 3:
Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), dated December [•], 2019, by and among Prairie Private Acquiror LP, a Delaware limited partnership(“Buyer”), Prairie Merger Sub LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of Buyer (“Buyer Sub”), the Issuer and TGE GP, Buyer will merge with and into the Issuer (the “Merger”), with the Issuer surviving the merger and owned, directly or indirectly, by certain entities affiliated with the Blackstone Group Inc. (the “Blackstone Group”). The descriptions of the Merger and the Merger Agreement set forth in Item 4 below are incorporated by reference in their entirety into this Item 3. The Merger Consideration (as defined below) will be funded by a combination of debt and equity capital arranged by the Blackstone Group and their affiliates.
Concurrently with the execution of the Merger Agreement, Credit Suisse Loan Funding LLC, Credit Suisse AG, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Jefferies Finance LLC (collectively, the “Financing Banks”) issued (i) a debt commitment letter (the “Debt Commitment Letter”), which was accepted by Buyer, pursuant to which the Financing Banks agreed to arrange and underwrite debt financing in an aggregate amount of up to $575 million pursuant to a senior unsecured bridge loan facility to fund a portion of the Merger Consideration pursuant to the Merger Agreement, subject to various customary terms and conditions contained in the Debt Commitment Letter and (ii) a debt commitment letter (the “Alternative Debt Commitment Letter”), which was accepted by Buyer, pursuant to which the Financing Banks agreed to arrange and underwrite a debt financing in an aggregate amount of up to $575 million pursuant to a term loan facility to fund a portion of the Merger Consideration pursuant to the Merger Agreement, subject to various customary terms and conditions contained in the Alternative Debt Commitment Letter. The terms of the Debt Commitment Letter and the Alternative Debt Commitment Letter are subject in all respect to a side letter agreement (the “Side Letter”) between the Financing Banks and the Buyer, which provides, among other things, for the ability of the Buyer to elect to pursue the financing contemplated under the Debt Commitment Letter or the Alternative Debt Commitment Letter, but not both.
Concurrently with the execution of the Merger Agreement, Buyer entered into an Equity Commitment Letter (the “Equity Commitment Letter”), dated December 16, 2019, with Blackstone Infrastructure Prairie Partners L.P., BIP Aggregator (USRPHC) L.P., BIP Aggregator Q L.P., Blackstone Infrastructure Partners – V L.P., Jasmine Ventures Pte. Ltd., Enagas Holding USA, S.L.U., Enagas U.S.A. LLCand L5 Investment Holdings LP (collectively, the “Equity Commitment Sponsors”), pursuant to which the Equity Commitment Sponsors have agreed to purchase, or cause the purchase of, the equity of Buyer, for an aggregate amount in cash up to $2,924,430,224.83, representing the aggregate amount of equity capital to be contributed directly or indirectly to Buyer solely for the purpose of allowing Buyer to fund a portion of the Merger Consideration pursuant to the Merger Agreement.
The foregoing descriptions of the Debt Commitment Letter, the Alternative Debt Commitment Letter, the Side Letter and the Equity Commitment Letter do not purport to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by the full text of such agreements, which are attached as exhibits to this Schedule 13D and are incorporated herein by reference.
The information in Item 6 of this Schedule 13D is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 4. | Purpose of Transaction. |
Item 4 of the Schedule 13D is hereby amended by inserting the following information at the end of Item 4:
Merger Agreement
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Buyer will merge with and into the Issuer, with the Issuer surviving the Merger and owned directly or indirectly by certain of the Blackstone Group entities, and certain of their affiliates andco-investors of the Blackstone Group.