Suncoke Energy to form and float MLP

(Reuters) - Metallurgical coke maker SunCoke Energy Inc (SXC.N) said its board approved the formation and floatation of a master limited partnership (MLP).

A part of SunCoke Energy's interests in the Haverhill and Middletown cokemaking facilities in Ohio would make up the MLP's key assets, said Suncoke.

SunCoke Energy said it will own the general partner of the proposed MLP, SunCoke Energy Partners LP.

Master Limited Partnerships are corporate structures favored by energy companies. The partnerships pay almost no taxes and pass almost all profits along to investors, making them more capital efficient than other structures.

SunCoke Energy expects to close the initial public offering of the MLP not earlier than the fourth quarter. It will use the proceeds to repay debt and fund expansion projects.

SunCoke Energy was spun off from Sunoco SUN.N last July. Coking, or metallurgical coal is a key ingredient, along with iron ore, for making steel in blast furnaces.

Shares of Lisle, Illinois-based Suncoke Energy closed at $15.02 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Thyagaraju Adinarayan; Editing by Viraj Nair)