The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that U.S. private equity fund KKR & Co. is considering exiting a decade-long investment in Western Canadian natural gas processing plants, and partner Pembina Pipeline is a contender to buy the business. The Globe's Andrew Willis writes that Calgary-based Pembina owns 60 per cent of Pembina Gas Infrastructure (PGI), a collection of 22 plants and pipelines in Northern British Columbia and Alberta, while KKR owns the remaining 40 per cent of the unit. New York-based KKR originally invested in the gas processing business in 2015 and joined Pembina in 2022 in a transaction that valued the entire division at $11.4-billion. Private equity funds typically sell holdings after 10 to 12 years. KKR has hired Bank of Nova Scotia to run a sales process on its stake in PGI, with a potential price of $7-billion (U.S.). Analysts and an industry source say Pembina is a contender to buy the business, along with institutional investors such as pension plans. RBC analyst Maurice Choy said in a report that Pembina would want to make the acquisition at a price that immediately boosts its cash flow. PGI owns one of the largest gas networks in the Montney and Duvernay shale formations.