A. Lee Graham Reporter FTS International Inc. of Fort Worth has entered into an agreement to sell all assets of its proppant business and related logistics assets to Fairmount Minerals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Proppants such as sand are used to keep hydraulic fractures open when extracting natural gas. “This is a winning partnership for FTSI, our employees and our customers,” said CEO Greg Lanham in a news release. “The sale of these assets will enable FTSI to further streamline our business strategy and place greater focus on our core well completion business,” Lanham said. The deal sees Santrol, a Fairmount Minerals company, supply FTSI’s future proppant needs. Fairmount Minerals, based in Chesterland, Ohio, produces industrial sand. The transaction is expected to include substantially all of FTSI’s sand mines, raw sand processing plants, resin coating plants, railroad transload sites and various other properties and facilities. The company said it will retain its “last mile” trucking operations used to transport proppant from transload sites to well locations. The company will use net proceeds from the sale for debt reduction. The sale is expected to close by the end of third-quarter 2013. Acting as financial adviser to FTS in the transaction was Wells Fargo Securities LLC. FTS International provides well-completion services for the oil and gas industry. More information is available at www.ftsi.com. lgraham@bizpress.net