April 3 (Reuters) - Brookfield Infrastructure Partners ( BIP/PA )

said on Thursday it is buying Colonial Enterprises,

including the largest U.S. fuel transportation system, Colonial

Pipeline, for an enterprise value of about $9 billion.

Brookfield's equity investment is expected to be $500

million at the deal's closing, representing about 15% of the

total equity investment of Brookfield and its institutional

partners, the company said.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of

2025, the company said.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Brookfield emerged

as the winner of an auction process, which the five owners of

the pipeline have been running over several months, to buy

Colonial Pipeline for more than $9 billion including debt.

Colonial's pipeline system stretches over 5,500 miles from

Houston in Texas to New York's harbor. It moves 100 million

gallons of fuel daily, including gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and

heating oil, according to its website.

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane

Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)