Blackstone, Canadian pension funds to invest $3.1 billion in LNG Canada for Mitsubishi stake (updated)
UPDATE 1-Blackstone, Canadian pension funds to invest $3.1 billion in LNG Canada for Mitsubishi stake New throughout, adds details on pension funds
TOKYO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Blackstone BX.N and a group of Canadian pension funds will invest $3.1 billion to acquire a 49.9% interest in Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp 's 8058.T holding company that owns its stake in the LNG Canada project, the companies said on Monday.
The holding company owns a 15% stake in LNG Canada, the Shell SHEL.L-led export project in British Columbia that started production in June 2025. Mitsubishi said its stake is valued at about $1.6 billion. The remaining investment will be used for phase 2 expansion that will double the production's facility.
The Blackstone-led group includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP).
CPP Investments' Head of Real Assets Credit Geoff Souter said the pension fund viewed this as a "compelling opportunity" to invest at scale in Canada.
Mitsubishi said the deal would not affect its LNG offtake volumes or customer relationships.
The holding company currently offtakes 2.1 million metric tons per year of LNG from the project, with volumes expected to double to 4.2 million tons a year after the LNG Canada expansion.
The transaction follows the final investment decision announced by Shell and its partners in September on the LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion, a project that will double the facility's production capacity to 28 million tons a year.
Mitsubishi said it would use Blackstone's financial resources to help advance the expansion while improving the capital efficiency of its investment.
The deal is expected to close in November, a Mitsubishi spokesperson said.($1 = 157.8200 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Nivedita Balu in Toronto; Editing by Sonali Paul and David Gregorio)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))