Blackstone-Led Group to Invest $3.1 Billion in Mitsubishi's LNG Canada Unit
Canadian pension funds join the deal for 49.9% of the Japanese trader's holding company, while Mitsubishi keeps control and its full share of LNG offtake.
What to know
- A Blackstone-led group including four Canadian pension investors agreed to invest $3.1 billion for a 49.9% non-controlling interest in the Mitsubishi Corp. unit that holds its LNG Canada stake.
- Mitsubishi owns 15% of LNG Canada and will keep control of the unit and its full share of LNG offtake, which it expects to reach 4.2 million tonnes a year after the expansion.
- LNG Canada's Phase 2, approved on Sept. 29, will double the Kitimat plant's capacity to 28 million tonnes a year, with operations expected in the early 2030s.
NEW YORK
A group led by Blackstone agreed to invest $3.1 billion for a 49.9% non-controlling interest in the Mitsubishi Corp. subsidiary that holds the Japanese trading house's stake in LNG Canada, the U.S. firm said on Nov. 2.
The deal lets one of Japan's biggest LNG traders raise cash against a Pacific-coast export plant that is about to double in size. Because the investors take a non-controlling interest, Mitsubishi stays in charge of the unit, and Blackstone said the trader keeps its full share of LNG offtake. For Asian buyers of Mitsubishi's Canadian cargoes, the flow of gas does not change. What changes is who funds it.
According to Blackstone's announcement, the money comes from funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance and four Canadian institutions: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. No closing date has been reported.
Mitsubishi Keeps Control of LNG Canada Cargoes
Mitsubishi owns 15% of LNG Canada, the export plant at Kitimat, British Columbia. The other owners are Shell with 40%, Malaysia's Petronas with 25%, PetroChina with 15% and Korea Gas Corp. with 5%, according to Offshore Engineer. Each partner takes its own share of the output.
On Sept. 29, the partners took a final investment decision on Phase 2, which adds two trains and lifts capacity to 28 million tonnes a year from 14 million. Mitsubishi said at the time that it expects to take an extra 2.1 million tonnes a year from the expansion, bringing its attributable offtake to 4.2 million tonnes. Operations at the new trains are expected in the early 2030s. Mitsubishi also noted that a 28-million-tonne plant would equal roughly 40% of Japan's LNG imports in 2025, which it put at about 65 million tonnes.
By selling just under half of a holding company rather than part of the project itself, Mitsubishi brings in outside capital while keeping its seat at the LNG Canada table. On a straight-line basis, paying $3.1 billion for 49.9% implies a value of about $6.2 billion for 100% of the subsidiary that holds the 15% stake. That is a Capital Times calculation; the terms of the investment and any debt or other assets inside the unit have not been disclosed.
Private Credit Moves Deeper Into Asian LNG Supply Chains
The transaction fits a pattern of large investors putting money into gas export assets through structured minority deals. In September 2025, Blackstone Credit & Insurance led a $7 billion investment in Sempra Infrastructure Partners' Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project in Texas. That deal used a similar structure: Blackstone-managed funds and co-investors bought a 49.9% minority equity stake, while Sempra Infrastructure kept 50.1% and control.
Interest in LNG Canada itself has been building for months. In April, Reuters reported that Apollo Global Management, Blackstone and KKR were the remaining bidders for Shell's 40% stake, a deal that people familiar with the matter said could be worth as much as $15 billion. Shell Chief Executive Wael Sawan said then that the company was "very comfortable" with its holding and was not necessarily looking to reduce it. The Mitsubishi transaction is a separate deal.
For Japanese trading houses, the deal shows one way to fund their share of capital-heavy expansions. Phase 2 is a multiyear construction program, and partners must pay their portion of the cost long before the first extra cargo sails. Bringing in pension money at the holding-company level spreads that burden without diluting the offtake rights that Japanese buyers value most. Operator Shell has also said it is steering new LNG volumes toward Asia, as its third-quarter results showed.
Canadian supply competes for the same buyers as new Gulf and U.S. volumes. QatarEnergy last month signed a 20-year deal for up to 3 million tons a year of Woodside's U.S. LNG, a sign that U.S. supply is drawing long-term commitments from large buyers.
The next markers for investors are the closing of the Blackstone transaction and any further detail from Mitsubishi on its terms. Construction progress on the two new Kitimat trains, due to start in the early 2030s, will decide when the extra 2.1 million tonnes a year reaches Mitsubishi's Asian customers.
Sources
- Blackstone: Blackstone and Leading Canadian Institutional Investors Announce $3.1B Investment in Mitsubishi Corporation's Interest in LNG Canada (Nov. 2, 2026)
- Mitsubishi Corp.: Mitsubishi Corporation Reaches Final Investment Decision on LNG Canada Expansion Project (Sept. 29, 2026)
- Offshore Engineer: Shell Takes FID to Double LNG Canada Capacity (Sept. 29, 2026)
- Baird Maritime (Reuters): Private equity giants go head-to-head over $15b LNG Canada stake (April 30, 2026)
- LNG Prime: Blackstone-led group buys LNG Canada stake from Mitsubishi (Nov. 2, 2026)
- Business Wire: Blackstone Credit & Insurance Leads $7 Billion Investment in Sempra Infrastructure Partners' Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 (Sept. 23, 2025)
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