Kirby Buys Pressure Barges From Targa For $69 Million

Kirby Corporation announced May 3 the signing of an agreement to acquire Targa Resources Corporation’s inland marine tank barge business for approximately $69.3 million in cash. The purchase will be financed through additional borrowings.

Targa’s inland marine tank barge fleet consists of 16 pressure barges that have a total capacity of approximately 258,000 barrels, many of which are under long-term, multi-year contracts.

The acquisition is expected to close near the end of the second quarter and is subject to customary closing conditions.

David Grzebinski, Kirby’s president and CEO, said, “Targa’s inland pressure barges are an excellent addition to Kirby’s fleet. With the ongoing petrochemical build-out progressing along the U.S. Gulf Coast, these incremental barges will give Kirby additional capacity to meet our customers’ growing needs for the movement of pressurized cargoes such as liquefied petroleum gas and certain ethylene plant coproducts. We expect to incur some costs in the near term; however, these barges will be approximately $0.02 per share accretive in 2018.”