SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) today announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase crude oil and refined product storage assets in the Port of Corpus Christi from Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (Nasdaq: MMLP) for a net $93 million. The acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, is expected to be immediately accretive to NuStar’s earnings based on the terminal’s current, actual volumes. It also reflects an approximate seven times multiple based on the forecasted four-year average earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) attributable to the assets of $13.5 million annually. When combined with NuStar’s existing terminal operations in Corpus Christi, the acquisition will give NuStar over 3.6 million barrels of total storage in the Port of Corpus Christi, including 3.1 million barrels of crude oil storage and 577,000 barrels of refined product storage.

The terminal NuStar is acquiring includes 1.15 million barrels of total storage, which is comprised of 900,000 barrels of crude oil storage and 250,000 barrels of refined product storage. The terminal has direct connectivity to Eagle Ford crude oil production and receives crude oil and condensate via its connection to the Harvest Pipeline and through its six-bay truck rack. The terminal has access to two of the port’s deep-water crude oil docks, including exclusive use of the port’s new crude oil dock, and a barge dock. The terminal is located on 25 acres, and has room for further expansion.

NuStar also expects to achieve significant operational synergies between its existing North Beach Terminal and the Martin terminal, which are located adjacent to each other in the Port of Corpus Christi.

“Corpus Christi has been a strategic hub for NuStar for many years, and we are very pleased to make this acquisition that will not only solidify our presence there, but also give us the ability to serve a new pipeline and new customers, and provide us greater connectivity to domestic and international crude oil and refined products markets,” said NuStar President and CEO Brad Barron. “Just as importantly, it will also allow us to better serve our existing customers. With the use of the docks that are part of this acquisition, we are better able to meet the future needs of an existing customer who is interested in increasing volumes and the length of their contract with us.

“And this terminal fits perfectly within our acquisition criteria as it is synergistic with our existing assets, is immediately accretive to earnings and has additional upside growth potential,” Barron added.

About NuStar Energy

NuStar Energy L.P., a publicly traded master limited partnership based in San Antonio, is one of the largest independent liquids terminal and pipeline operators in the nation. NuStar currently has approximately 8,700 miles of pipeline and 79 terminal and storage facilities that store and distribute crude oil, refined products and specialty liquids. The partnership’s combined system has approximately 94 million barrels of storage capacity, and NuStar has operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, including St. Eustatius in the Caribbean, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit NuStar Energy L.P.'s website at www.nustarenergy.com.

About Martin Midstream Partners

Martin Midstream Partners L.P. is a publicly traded limited partnership with a diverse set of operations focused primarily in the United States Gulf Coast region. MMLP’s primary business segments include: (1) terminalling, storage and packaging services for petroleum products and by-products; (2) natural gas services, including liquids transportation and distribution services and natural gas storage; (3) sulfur and sulfur-based products processing, manufacturing, marketing and distribution; and (4) marine transportation services for petroleum products and by-products.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information -- This news release includes forecasted EBITDA. This is a non-GAAP financial measure. Forecasted EBITDA is based on the partnership’s projections for the assets to be acquired. Forecasted EBITDA is included to help facilitate comparisons of operating performance of the partnership with other companies in our industry, as well as help facilitate an assessment of our assets' projected ability to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our partners. Forecasted EBITDA is not presented as an alternative to the nearest GAAP financial measure, net income, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. We are unable to present a reconciliation of forecasted EBITDA to net income because certain elements of net income, including interest, depreciation and taxes, are not available. Together, these items generally result in EBITDA being significantly greater than net income.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding future events, such as the partnership’s future performance. All forward-looking statements are based on the partnership’s beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the partnership. These statements reflect the partnership’s current views with respect to future events and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions are discussed in NuStar Energy L.P.’s and NuStar GP Holdings, LLC’s 2015 annual reports on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

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