MWE

Energy companies MarkWest Energy Partners LP and Marathon Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday that their merger deal, which faced opposition from a MarkWest founder, had been approved by that company's shareholders.

The deal was expected to be completed by Dec. 4.

The agreement will make MarkWest, the second-largest natural gas processor in the U.S., a subsidiary of MPLX, Marathon's pipeline operator, and creates among the biggest master limited partnerships.

Last month, Marathon submitted what it called its " best and final offer," increasing the cash portion of the deal to compensate for a falling MPLX share price. The new offer was for $6.20 per unit of cash for MarkWest shareholders, plus 1.09 MPLX units for each MarkWest unit.

Shares of MPLX were down nearly 15% in afternoon trading Tuesday.

Earlier last month, a former CEO of MarkWest, John Fox, among the founders of the company in 1988, sought to scuttle the marriage, saying shareholders would be better served with a stand-alone company.

Mr. Fox delivered a letter outlining his concerns to MarkWest's board and Chief Executive Frank Semple, and said he planned to mount a campaign to sway other shareholders. Marathon beefed up its offer following Mr. Fox's complaints.

Analysts said, however, that the same forces that have pummeled shares of Marathon's partnership—the extended swoon of oil prices—also made it harder for MarkWest to remain alone or find a better buyer.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2015 14:55 ET (19:55 GMT)

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