Williams sells Rio Grande stake to Holly Corp. for US$27.5mn

US energy company Williams (NYSE: WMB) has sold its 45% stake in the 375km Rio Grande pipeline to Dallas-based company Holly Corporation (AMEX: HOC) for US$27.5mn. The final sale price is subject to certain closing adjustments, the companies said in separate statements. "[Williams] has been in a cash mode, needing to raise cash for debt obligations and the company has been very successful in doing that," Williams spokesperson Kelly Swan told BNamericas, adding that some US$6.5bn has been raised over the last 18 months. As part of this sell-off, Williams has sold its two main natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines in the last 18 months, Swan said. "After that we were left with very small pipeline systems such as Rio Grande, so it just was no longer a strategic fit," he said. The sale brings Holly's participation in the Rio Grande Pipeline Company to 70%, with UK oil and gas company BP holding the remaining 30%. The eight-inch Rio Grande Pipeline was the first propane pipeline to cross the US-Mexico border, transporting NGLs from near El Paso, Texas, to the pipeline network of Mexico's state energy company Pemex at Ciudad Juarez in Chihuahua state. Holly officials were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.