James Bradshaw of The Globe and Mail reports Blackstone, Canadian pension funds invest $3.1-billion for LNG Canada stake:
Blackstone Inc. and four major Canadian pension funds are paying US$3.1-billion to buy a minority stake in a Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary that owns a share of LNG Canada’s liquefaction business.
Mitsubishi owns a 15-per-cent stake in LNG Canada through a subsidiary and will stay the controlling partner of that entity. The investor group is acquiring a 49.9-per-cent non-controlling interest in the Mitsubishi subsidiary, or roughly half of Mitsubishi’s stake.
Blackstone is leading the investor group that includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Investment Management Corp. of Ontario and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
LNG Canada operates the country’s first natural-gas export terminal, an $18-billion facility in Kitimat, B.C., that opened in June, 2025. Under the deal announced Monday, Mitsubishi will continue its agreement to offtake 2.1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from LNG Canada.
For nearly a year, Mitsubishi and LNG Canada’s largest shareholder, Shell PLC, have considered altering their stakes to raise funds for expansion plans.
Mitsubishi hired Royal Bank of Canada’s capital markets arm to pursue a deal and both shareholders were reportedly fielding bids as early as this summer from U.S.-based asset managers such as Blackstone and Apollo Global Management Inc.
The transaction is a sign of heightened interest among Canada’s largest pension funds and global investors such as Blackstone to invest in Canadian infrastructure and energy projects.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has set a target to attract $500-billion in new private-sector investment over five years. An expansion plan to build a second phase of the LNG Canada terminal that would double its annual output from 14 million tonnes to 28 million was confirmed in late September, which would make it one of the largest LNG facilities in the world.
The second phase was one of the first five projects referred to Canada’s Major Projects Office as a national priority.
The final investment decision granted in September was a key step to giving investors greater confidence in the project’s future viability. LNG Canada is appealing to institutional investors because it can provide stable, long-term cash flows that produce steady returns.
Geoff Souter, CPPIB’s head of real assets credit, said in a statement that LNG Canada is “a high-quality, globally strategic asset with strong long-term fundamentals and attractive return potential for the CPP Fund.”
At the Canada Investment Summit, held in Toronto in mid-September, Blackstone president and chief operating officer Jon Gray called Canada “a bit of a sleeping giant, economically.”
The stake in Mitsubishi’s subsidiary that Blackstone and the pension funds are acquiring is valued at US$1.6-billion, and the total $3.1-billion investment includes the costs of planned capital expenditures for the phase 2 expansion project.
Though the Blackstone-led group is buying an equity stake in Mitsubishi’s subsidiary, the deal is being financed by the participating investors’ credit divisions. It is an example of a type of transaction that has been gaining in popularity, often called “capital solutions” or “corporate solutions” that uses a hybrid equity and debt structure to give large corporations a way to unlock cash from existing assets they own.
In this case, Mitsubishi is tapping into the deep financial resources that Blackstone and the Canadian pension funds bring to the table “to advance the expansion project and further enhance the value of the business,” the company said in a news release.
Blackstone manages US$1.3-trillion, while CPPIB, PSP, OMERS and IMCO collectively manage more than $1.4-trillion in pension assets for Canadian workers and retirees.
LNG Canada will still be a strategic priority for Mitsubishi, which sells gas from the project into Asia, primarily in Japan, and allows it to secure a reliable and increasing supply of a key energy source.
Disruptions to global energy flows from the U.S. war in Iran and Russia’s war in Ukraine have prompted governments and companies around the world to look to diversify their access to energy.
“This announcement builds on our deep conviction in Canada, our partnership with the country’s leading institutional investors and our ability to provide large corporates with flexible solutions to unlock value from their most critical assets,” said Zachary Rubenstein, managing director for Blackstone Credit & Insurance, in a statement.
RBC advised Mitsubishi on the transaction, while Goldman Sachs and Scotiabank advised Blackstone. Kirkland & Ellis and Stikeman Elliott served as legal counsel to Blackstone.
Lauren Krugel of The Canadian Press also reportsBlackstone, pension funds invest US$3.1B in LNG Canada stake:
U.S. asset manager Blackstone and four Canadian institutional investors have signed a US$3.1-billion deal to acquire a non-controlling stake in the Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary that holds an interest in LNG Canada, the country's first liquefied natural gas export facility.
The investor group includes the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. Blackstone and the funds are together acquiring a 49.9 per cent interest in the Mitsubishi unit.
“LNG Canada is a high-quality, globally strategic asset with strong long-term fundamentals and attractive return potential for the CPP fund,” Geoff Souter, managing director at CPP Investments, said in a news release Monday.
Rick Campbell, senior managing director at Blackstone Credit & Insurance, called LNG Canada "one of Canada's most significant energy projects," adding it will "help meet rising energy demands across global markets." New York-based Blackstone manages US$140 billion through its infrastructure and asset-based credit platform.
LNG Canada is a joint venture between Shell, PetroChina, Malaysia’s Petronas, Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. and South Korea's KOGAS.
Mitsubishi holds a 15 per cent interest through its subsidiary. It will retain its full share of the plant's LNG supply.
In September, LNG Canada announced it will go ahead with the Phase 2 expansion project at its liquefied natural gas export terminal in Kitimat, B.C. The expansion will double LNG Canada's capacity to 28 million tonnes a year. The expansion has been referred to the federal major projects office, which aims to speed up infrastructure deemed in Canada's national interest.
Richard Brooks, climate finance director at environmental group Stand.earth, said Canadians should be "extremely alarmed" to see pension funds investing in LNG on behalf of millions of workers and retirees.
"Canadians should have a say where and with whom their retirement funds are invested. While geopolitical instability has driven up interest in Canadian LNG, this is still not a risk-free investment, particularly in the long term," Brooks said in a news release.
He said the world is scaling up clean energy infrastructure in order to reduce dependence on energy imports. The price of energy has skyrocketed in Europe and Asia since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in February, disrupting supplies from the Persian Gulf.
"The bottom line is that every dollar of workers’ pensions put into LNG Canada is a dollar not building the clean energy future. That capital should instead be accelerating clean energy projects with better long-term returns," said Brooks.
Adam Scott, director of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, said the pension funds have broken trust with their members.
"We’re now using our taxes and our retirement savings against us to harm our climate," he said in a news release. "It’s deeply irresponsible and indefensible.”
Blackstone has provided $150-million in financial backing to another natural gas export project in the works on the West Coast, Ksi Lisims LNG near the Alaska border, through its affiliate Blackstone Energy Transition Partners.
Today, Blackstone issued a press release stating it and leading Canadian institutional investors announced a $3.1B investment in Mitsubishi Corporation’s interest in LNG Canada:
Investor group includes CPP Investments, OMERS, IMCO and PSP Investments NEW YORK – November 2, 2026 – Blackstone today announced that funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance, in partnership with leading Canadian institutional investors, have agreed to invest $3.1 billion to acquire a 49.9% non-controlling interest in a Mitsubishi Corporation ("MC") subsidiary that holds MC’s interest in the LNG Canada liquefaction business.
The Blackstone-led investor group includes Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), through wholly owned subsidiaries of CPPIB Credit Investments Inc., Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) and The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments).
LNG Canada is Canada’s first and only large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal. Once complete, its Phase 2 expansion will double the facility’s production capacity to 28 million tonnes per annum, making it one of the largest LNG facilities in the world.
“We are proud to join Mitsubishi Corporation, a global leader with more than 50 years of experience across the LNG value chain, as a financial partner to support one of Canada’s most significant energy projects. This project will help meet rising energy demands across global markets,” said Rick Campbell, Senior Managing Director, Blackstone Credit & Insurance.
“This announcement builds on our deep conviction in Canada, our partnership with the country’s leading institutional investors and our ability to provide large corporates with flexible solutions to unlock value from their most critical assets,” added Zachary Rubenstein, Managing Director, Blackstone Credit & Insurance.
“LNG Canada is a high-quality, globally strategic asset with strong long-term fundamentals and attractive return potential for the CPP Fund,” said Geoff Souter, Managing Director, Head of Real Assets Credit, CPP Investments. “We see this as a compelling opportunity to invest at scale here in Canada alongside Mitsubishi Corporation, Blackstone and our Canadian peers.”
MC, one of Japan's largest LNG suppliers, will remain the controlling partner and retain its full share of LNG offtake.
Blackstone’s Infrastructure and Asset Based Credit platform manages $140 billion and has over 100 investment professionals, among the largest in the asset-backed marketplace. Over the past two years, Blackstone has announced a number of large-scale corporate solutions investments in Canada and with companies building critical energy infrastructure globally, including a CDN$7 billion investment in Rogers, a CDN$2.5 billion investment in Aeroplan, a $16 billion partnership with Kuwait Oil Company, a $7 billion investment in Sempra Infrastructure Partners’ Port Arthur LNG Phase 2, a $5.34 billion investment in a joint venture with Williams, a $3.5 billion investment in a joint venture with EQT, among others.
Goldman Sachs served as lead structuring agent and financial advisor to Blackstone. Scotiabank also served as financial advisor. Kirkland & Ellis and Stikeman Elliott served as legal counsel to Blackstone.
About Blackstone Credit & Insurance Blackstone Credit & Insurance (“BXCI”) is one of the world’s leading credit investors. Our investments span the credit markets, including private investment grade, asset based lending, public investment grade and high yield, sustainable resources, infrastructure debt, collateralized loan obligations, direct lending and opportunistic credit. We seek to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for institutional and individual investors by offering companies capital needed to strengthen and grow their businesses. BXCI is also a leading provider of investment management services for insurers, helping those companies better deliver for policyholders through our world-class capabilities in investment grade private credit.
Mitsubishi Corporation also issued a press release stating it welcomes a new financial partner in LNG Canada Liquefaction Infrastructure Holding Company to enhance capital efficiency:
Mitsubishi Corporation (“MC”) announced today that it will welcome funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance, part of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers (the “Funds”), as a financial partner in its liquefaction infrastructure holding company (the “Holdco”) for the LNG Canada project in British Columbia, Canada, through the sale of a 49.9% interest in the Holdco.
The transaction is valued at approximately US$1.6 billion (approximately ¥250 billion).
RBC Capital Markets served as MC’s exclusive financial advisor on the transaction.
MC operates an integrated natural gas and LNG business in Western Canada, spanning natural gas development and production, liquefaction at LNG Canada, and LNG offtake and marketing. On September 29, 2026, MC announced the final investment decision for the LNG Canada expansion project, which will double LNG Canada’s production capacity.
The Holdco has a 15% interest in LNG Canada and currently offtakes 2.1 million tonnes per annum of LNG in proportion to its ownership interest. The LNG is sold to customers in Asia, primarily in Japan, through Diamond Global Energy Pte. Ltd., MC’s wholly owned LNG marketing subsidiary based in Singapore. Following the expansion, the Holdco’s LNG offtake is expected to increase to 4.2 million tonnes per annum.
Through the transaction, MC will leverage the Funds’ financial resources to advance the expansion project and further enhance the value of the business, while improving the capital efficiency of its investment in LNG Canada. The transaction will not affect MC’s LNG offtake volumes or customers. MC will welcome the Funds as a financial partner in the Holdco while maintaining its participation across the natural gas and LNG value chain in Canada.
The project will remain one of MC’s key businesses, contributing to the stable supply of energy to customers around the world, including Japan.Under Corporate Strategy 2027, MC is focused on delivering sustainable growth and greater capital efficiency. By combining its integrated business capabilities with the expertise and financial resources of financial investors, MC will continue to pursue new approaches to value creation.
Project overview
Blackstone Credit & Insurance
Blackstone is the world's largest alternative asset manager, with businesses spanning a broad range of areas, including private equity, real estate, credit, and insurance. Blackstone Credit & Insurance is Blackstone’s credit and insurance business and invests across a broad range of areas, including corporate credit, infrastructure debt and asset-based lending.
Since entering the LNG business in 1969, MC has built one of the world’s leading LNG portfolios, with interests in 13 LNG projects globally. Through these investments, MC has engaged across the LNG value chain, from upstream natural gas development and production to liquefaction, transportation, and marketing.
In the LNG Canada project, each project partner independently procures its own feed gas, transports the gas through a 670-kilometer pipeline to the liquefaction facility, and offtakes the LNG produced by the project in proportion to its ownership interest.
Location of LNG Canada
Materiality
Based on the Three Corporate Principles, which serve as MC’s core philosophy, MC has continued to grow together with society by contributing to the sustainable development of society through its business activities while pursuing value creation. While continuously creating Shared Value guided by the Materiality, a set of crucial societal issues, MC will continue to strengthen its efforts towards sustainable corporate growth. Guided by this Materiality, MC will continue to strengthen its efforts towards sustainable corporate growth. Out of the six material issues relating to “Realizing a Carbon Neutral Society and Striving to Enrich Society Both Materially and Spiritually”, this project’s activities particularly support “Contributing to Decarbonized Societies” and “Promoting Stable, Sustainable Societies and Lifestyles”.
Alright, Monday before US midterms, let's get to it.
As James Bradshaw notes above, the stake in Mitsubishi’s subsidiary that Blackstone and the pension funds are acquiring is valued at US$1.6-billion, and the total $3.1-billion investment includes the costs of planned capital expenditures for the phase 2 expansion project.
My first impression? Any time Blackstone calls you up to take part in a deal of this magnitude with an LNG asset Mitsubishi Corporation owns a stake in and helps operate, you pick up the phone, listen carefully, and thank them for the offer. Then you tell your team, including legal and finance, to hurry up and sign all the requisite documents.
Forget the criticism from Stand.earth, Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, and all the other environmental groups, they're just looking to criticize any major investment Canada's pension funds make in oil and gas.
This is a fantastic long-term investment for Blackstone and its investor group, which includes CPP Investments, OMERS, IMCO and PSP Investments.
The world still runs on oil and gas, and countries in Asia and elsewhere are looking to secure energy for years to come from safe, dependable sources like Canada.
How did this deal happen? Let me explain. Blackstone is the global leader in alternative investments with contacts throughout the world, and probably does business with Mitsubishi Corporation. I don't know who approached whom, or if Goldman brokered this deal in the background (doesn't really matter), but Mitsubishi is more than happy to have this Blackstone-led consortium on board on this asset.
In fact, Mitsubishi's press release states the company is tapping into the deep financial resources that Blackstone and the Canadian pension funds bring to the table “to advance the expansion project and further enhance the value of the business.”
The Blackstone-led consortium is lucky to have a partner like Mitsubishi Corporation managing this asset.
As far as Blackstone, it is making a sizable strategic investment in Canada's energy complex following the Canada Investment Summit, which its leader Jon Gray attended, and has invited four of Canada's largest pension funds to co-invest alongside it.
Let me end by stating this is a win-win for all parties, and it's a win for Canada.
Below, Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray says Canada has massive opportunities to grow due to its natural resources, looser regulatory policies and access to private capital. “Canada is a sleeping giant economically," he said at the inaugural Canada Investment Summit in Toronto in mid-September.
Also, Canada’s First Large-Scale LNG Development – The LNG Canada Project. This video introduces the full scope of Mitsubishi Corporation’s natural gas business in Canada and its efforts to ensure a stable energy supply.
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