Energy Transfer to Acquire Vaquero Midstream for $2.6 Billion

Energy Transfer announced Tuesday an agreement to acquire Vaquero Midstream for about $2.625 billion, paying $1.95 billion in cash and issuing roughly 33.3 million new common units. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 pending regulatory approval and customary conditions. Vaquero operates about 300 miles of pipelines in Loving, Reeves, Ward and Winkler counties and the Caymus Processing Complex, three plants with combined capacity of about 675 million cubic feet per day that could expand to roughly 1.2 billion cubic feet per day with two more plants. About 100,000 acres sit under long-term contracts with an average remaining term of about 10 years. Energy Transfer said the purchase should immediately raise distributable cash flow per common unit and that the assets connect to its existing natural gas and NGL network. Sidley Austin partners George Vlahakos and Atman Shukla are advising Energy Transfer; Willkie Farr and Gallagher partners Jesse Betts, Jessica Hammons and Nathan Meredith represent Vaquero. Energy Transfer held $1.02 billion in cash as of June 30, 2026. Benzinga reported ET shares traded 0.92 percent lower at $20.43 on Tuesday. No factual disputes were identified in the record. Closing still depends on regulatory approval.