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EQT Midstream Partners, LP
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2015
EQT Midstream Partners, LP  
EQT Midstream Partners, LP
EQT GP Holdings, LP

In January 2015, the Company formed EQT GP Holdings, LP (EQGP) (NYSE: EQGP), a Delaware limited partnership, to own partnership interests in EQT Midstream Partners, LP (EQM) (NYSE: EQM). In April 2015, EQT Midstream Investments, LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company that held EQT’s EQM common units, merged with and into EQGP, and EQT Gathering Holdings, LLC (EQT Gathering Holdings), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of EQT, contributed 100% of the outstanding limited liability company interests in EQT Midstream Services, LLC, EQM’s general partner, to EQGP. As a result of these restructuring transactions, EQGP owned the following EQM partnership interests as of September 30, 2015, which represent EQGP’s only cash-generating assets: 21,811,643 EQM common units, representing a 29.89% limited partner interest in EQM; 1,443,015 EQM general partner units, representing a 1.98% general partner interest in EQM; and all of EQM’s incentive distribution rights, or IDRs, which entitle EQGP to receive up to 48.0% of all incremental cash distributed in a quarter after $0.5250 has been distributed in respect of each common unit and general partner unit of EQM for that quarter. The Company is the ultimate parent company of EQGP and EQM.

On May 15, 2015, EQGP completed an underwritten initial public offering (IPO) of 26,450,000 common units representing limited partner interests in EQGP, which represented 9.9% of EQGP’s outstanding limited partner interests. The Company retained 239,715,000 common units, which represented a 90.1% limited partner interest, and a non-economic general partner interest, in EQGP. EQT Gathering Holdings, as the selling unitholder, sold all of the EQGP common units in the offering, resulting in net proceeds to the Company of approximately $674.0 million after deducting underwriting discounts and structuring fees of approximately $2.6 million. EQGP did not receive any of the proceeds from, or incur any expenses in connection with, EQGP’s IPO.

The Company continues to consolidate the results of EQGP, but records an income tax provision only as to its ownership percentage.  The Company records the noncontrolling interest of the EQGP public limited partners in its financial statements. In connection with the May 2015 EQGP IPO, the Company recorded a $321.8 million gain to additional paid-in-capital, a decrease in noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiary of $512.9 million and an increase to deferred tax liability of $191.1 million.

On October 20, 2015, the Board of Directors of EQGP’s general partner declared a cash distribution to EQGP’s unitholders for the third quarter of 2015 of $0.104 per common unit, or approximately $27.7 million.  The distribution will be paid on November 23, 2015 to unitholders of record, including the Company, at the close of business on November 2, 2015.

Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (i.e., to the EQGP limited partner interests not owned by the Company and the EQM limited partner interests not owned by EQGP) was $59.4 million and $165.4 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively. Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (i.e., to the EQM limited partner interests not owned by the Company) was $33.7 million and $79.8 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, respectively.
EQT Midstream Partners, LP
 
In January 2012, the Company formed EQM to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin. EQM provides midstream services to the Company and other third parties. EQM is consolidated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The Company records the noncontrolling interest of the EQM public limited partners in its financial statements.

In connection with EQM’s IPO in July 2012, EQM issued 17,339,718 subordinated units of EQM to the Company. On February 17, 2015, the subordinated units converted into common units representing limited partner interests in EQM on a one-for-one basis as a result of satisfaction of certain conditions for termination of the subordination period set forth in EQM’s partnership agreement.

On March 10, 2015, the Company and certain subsidiaries of the Company entered into a contribution and sale agreement (Contribution Agreement) with EQM and EQM Gathering Opco, LLC (EQM Gathering), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of EQM. Pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, on March 17, 2015, a subsidiary of the Company contributed the Northern West Virginia Marcellus gathering system to EQM Gathering in exchange for total consideration of approximately $925.7 million, consisting of approximately $873.2 million in cash, 511,973 EQM common units and 178,816 EQM general partner units (the NWV Gathering Transaction). EQM Gathering is consolidated by the Company as it is still controlled by the Company. On April 15, 2015, pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, the Company transferred a preferred interest in EQT Energy Supply, LLC, a subsidiary of the Company that generates revenue from services provided to a local distribution company, to EQM in exchange for total consideration of approximately $124.3 million.

On March 17, 2015, EQM completed an underwritten public offering of 8,250,000 common units. On March 18, 2015, the underwriters exercised their option to purchase 1,237,500 additional common units on the same terms as the offering. EQM received net proceeds of approximately $696.6 million from the offering after deducting the underwriters’ discount and offering expenses of approximately $24.5 million. In connection with the offering, the Company recorded a $122.8 million gain to additional paid-in-capital, a decrease in noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiary of $195.8 million and an increase to deferred tax liability of $73.0 million.

On March 30, 2015, the Company assigned 100% of the membership interests in MVP Holdco, LLC (MVP Holdco), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company that owns a majority interest (the MVP Interest) in Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP Joint Venture), to EQM for approximately $54.2 million, which represented EQM’s reimbursement to the Company for 100% of the capital contributions made by the Company to the MVP Joint Venture as of March 30, 2015. The MVP Joint Venture plans to construct the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), an estimated 300-mile natural gas interstate pipeline spanning from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia. The MVP Joint Venture has secured a total of 2.0 Bcf per day of 20 - year firm capacity commitments, including an approximately 1.3 Bcf per day firm capacity commitment by the Company. The MVP project is subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval. The voluntary prefiling process with the FERC began in October 2014 and the pipeline is expected to be placed in-service during the fourth quarter of 2018. The MVP Joint Venture has been determined to be a variable interest entity because the MVP Joint Venture has insufficient equity to finance activities during the construction stage of the MVP. EQM is not the primary beneficiary because it does not have the power to direct the activities of the MVP Joint Venture that most significantly impact its economic performance. EQM accounted for the MVP Interest beginning on the date it was assumed from EQT as an equity method investment.

During the third quarter of 2015, EQM entered into an equity distribution agreement that established an “At the Market” (ATM) common unit offering program, pursuant to which a group of managers, acting as EQM’s sales agents, may sell EQM common units having an aggregate offering price of up to $750 million (the $750 million ATM Program). During the three months ended September 30, 2015, EQM issued 827,975 common units at an average price per unit of $76.58. EQM received net proceeds of approximately $62.2 million after deducting commissions of approximately $0.7 million and other offering expenses of approximately $0.5 million. EQM used the net proceeds from the sales for general partnership purposes. EQM’s general partner elected not to maintain its general partner ownership percentage at the previous level of 2.0%. In connection with the September offerings, the Company recorded a $9.2 million gain to additional paid-in-capital, a decrease in noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiary of $14.6 million and an increase to deferred tax liability of $5.4 million.

On October 20, 2015, the Board of Directors of EQM’s general partner declared a cash distribution to EQM’s unitholders for the third quarter of 2015 of $0.675 per common unit. The cash distribution will be paid on November 13, 2015 to unitholders of record, including EQGP, at the close of business on November 2, 2015. Based on the 71,870,181 EQM common units outstanding on October 22, 2015, the aggregate cash distributions to EQGP would be approximately $28.6 million consisting of: $14.7 million in respective of its limited partner interest, $1.2 million in respect of its general partner interest and $12.7 million in respect of its incentive distribution rights in EQM. The distributions in respect of EQGP's general partner interest and incentive distribution rights in EQM are subject to change if EQM issues additional common units on or prior to the record date for the third quarter 2015 distribution.