Excelerate Energy Advances Growth Strategy with Acquisition of Jamaica Downstream LNG and Power Infrastructure Business from New Fortress Energy

Addition of Complementary, Fully Integrated Downstream LNG and Power Platform Establishes Excelerate as the Key Provider of "Last-Mile" LNG Infrastructure in a Desirable Atlantic Basin Natural Gas Market

Assets and Operations Generate Stable Cash Flows Supported by Attractive Long-Term Contracts with High-Quality Counterparties and Pipeline of Potential Growth Opportunities

Acquisition Is Immediately Accretive to Earnings per Share and Enhances Operating Cash Flow

THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2025-- 

Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EE) ("Excelerate" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with New Fortress Energy Inc. ("NFE") $(NFE)$ under which Excelerate will acquire NFE's business in Jamaica for $1.055 billion in cash.

Under the terms of the agreement, Excelerate will acquire the assets and operations of the Montego Bay LNG Terminal, the Old Harbour LNG Terminal, and the Clarendon combined heat and power ("CHP") co-generation plant. Excelerate expects to assume all material contracts currently in place.

"This transaction represents an important milestone in the execution of Excelerate's downstream growth strategy. It will expand and diversify our platform, while positioning Excelerate as the key provider of essential LNG import infrastructure in a desirable and growing Atlantic basin natural gas market," said Steven Kobos, President and Chief Executive Officer of Excelerate. "These assets complement our existing operational expertise and our long-term LNG supply agreements, while offering the potential for future growth opportunities as natural gas becomes an increasingly essential part of Jamaica's energy mix."

Kobos continued, "Importantly, this transaction also enhances our financial profile, providing predictable, long-term cash flows at stable margins with a weighted average remaining contract duration of approximately 21 years including contract extensions. We are confident the addition of this Jamaica platform will deliver significant value for our shareholders, while building on our commitment to providing cleaner and more affordable natural gas to countries across the globe."

Compelling Strategic and Financial Benefits

   -- Fully Integrated Downstream LNG and Power Infrastructure with High 
      Barriers to Entry: This strategic acquisition adds downstream and 
      "last-mile" infrastructure to complement and diversify Excelerate's 
      existing portfolio: 
 
          -- Differentiated position as Jamaica's sole LNG platform with 
             first-mover advantage, benefitting from years of invested capital 
             and history serving industrial customers and the Jamaica Power 
             System, including one of the country's largest gas-fired power 
             plants 
 
          -- Assets include Jamaica's only two LNG terminals, serving power 
             plants and industrial customers, as well as Jamaica's only 
             combined heat and power co-generation plant 
 
   -- Long-Term Contracted Assets with High-Quality Customers: 
      Infrastructure-like contract profile with stable margins, attractive 
      long-term offtake tenor and robust recontracting opportunities: 
 
          -- 86% of contracted revenue was Take-or-Pay as of December 31, 2024, 
             with a weighted average remaining tenor of approximately 13 years, 
             representing approximately $2.9 billion of cumulative Take-or-Pay 
             direct margin 2025 through 2039 
 
          -- Long-term, Excelerate plans to use its own Venture Global LNG 
             supply which is well-matched with customer offtake commitments, 
             minimizing commodity risk 
 
          -- High-quality customers, with a weighted average credit rating of 
             A3 / A- 
 
   -- Provider of "Last-Mile" LNG Infrastructure in a Desirable Atlantic Basin 
      Natural Gas Market: Jamaica business strengthens Excelerate's competitive 
      position, expanding on its core FSRU terminal services and gas supply 
      businesses in a growth market: 
 
          -- Diversifies Excelerate's geographic and operational exposure with 
             position in a highly attractive Atlantic basin market with access 
             to abundant, nearby US Gulf Coast LNG supply sources 
 
          -- Aligns Excelerate's 20-year Venture Global LNG supply agreement 
             for 0.7 MTPA with the approximately 13-year weighted average 
             contract length, or 21-year average contract length including 
             extensions, for the Jamaica assets 
 
          -- Extends Excelerate's position as a trusted partner for sovereign 
             governments and major LNG producers around the world 
 
   -- Pipeline of Potential Organic Growth Opportunities: The acquisition 
      offers opportunities to expand in Jamaica, leveraging existing 
      infrastructure, including: 
 
          -- LNG Bunkering: Use of existing infrastructure and assets provides 
             opportunity to provide LNG bunkering services in a high-traffic 
             location with strong demand, benefitting from the trend of 
             container and cruise vessels increasingly utilizing the Caribbean 
             as a bunkering destination 
 
          -- Expansion of the Clarendon CHP Plant: Opportunity to double the 
             generation capacity of the CHP plant, providing valuable baseload 
             power to meet anticipated growth of electricity demand in Jamaica 
 
          -- Incremental Gas Supply: Ability to continue to grow LNG fuel 
             supply for Jamaica's industrial base, benefitting from the 
             anticipated continued shift away from oil as natural gas becomes 
             an increasingly essential part of Jamaica's energy mix 
 
   -- Enhanced Pro Forma Operational and Financial Profile: Acquisition has 
      attractive economics and furthers Excelerate's goal of diversifying the 
      geographic footprint of its asset portfolio: 
 
          -- Transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings 
             per share 
 
          -- Provides predictable long-term operating cash flows 

Transaction Details

The cash purchase price of $1.055 billion represents a multiple of approximately 9x the Jamaica business' 2025E adjusted EBITDA. Excelerate intends to fund the transaction using a combination of permanent financing and cash-on-hand. Excelerate has backstopped the financing with an $850 million fully committed bridge facility.

Timing and Approvals

The transaction was unanimously approved by the Excelerate and NFE Boards of Directors and is expected to close as early as the second quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

Advisors

Evercore is serving as financial advisor and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP as legal advisor to Excelerate.

Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays"), Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DNB Bank ASA, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Inc., BNP Paribas S.A., Morgan Stanley, and Nordea Bank Abp, New York Branch are providing committed bridge financing for the transaction. Barclays is leading the committed financing and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor.

Investor Conference Call and Webcast

The Excelerate management team will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 7:30AM CST on March 27, 2025. Investors are invited to access a live webcast of the conference call via the Investor Relations page on the Company's website at www.excelerateenergy.com. An archived replay of the call and a copy of the investor presentation will be on the website following the call.

About Excelerate Energy

Excelerate Energy, Inc. is a U.S.-based LNG company located in The Woodlands, Texas. Excelerate is changing the way the world accesses cleaner forms of energy by providing integrated services along the LNG value chain with the objective of delivering rapid-to-market and reliable LNG solutions to customers. The Company offers a full range of services across the LNG value chain. Excelerate has a presence in Abu Dhabi, Antwerp, Boston, Buenos Aires, Chattogram, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Hanoi, Helsinki, London, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.excelerateenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, about Excelerate Energy, Inc. ("Excelerate," and together with its subsidiaries "we," "us," "our" or the "Company") and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding our future results of operations or financial condition, business strategy and plans, expansion plans and strategy, economic conditions, both generally and in particular in the regions in which we operate or plan to operate, objectives of management for future operations, expected benefits of the pending acquisition, including its effects on our average contract life, take-or-pay margin, and organic growth opportunities, and expected timing of closing of the proposed acquisition, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "consider," "contemplate, " "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "opportunity," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "shall," "should," "target," "will," or "would," or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions.

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

March 27, 2025 06:45 ET (10:45 GMT)