MDU to Buy Intermountain Gas Companyfor $328M

By Bethann Stewart, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Jul. 2–MDU Resources Group Inc. has agreed to buy Boise-based Intermountain Gas Company for $328 million, including debt, MDU reported Tuesday.

"It’s a well-run company. It’s a well-managed company. We don’t expect to make any changes at the employee level," said MDU spokesman Richard Matteson.

Intermountain Gas President Bill Glynn will stay with the holding company, Intermountain Industries.

Intermountain Gas, which has more than 300,000 customers and about 330 employees in Idaho, began looking for a buyer in April.

"We were trying to find a company that had the same culture or similar culture to what we had," Glynn said, in regards to the treatment of employees, the communities the company serves and the economic health of the state. "(MDU) epitomized what we were looking for," he added.

MDU, a Bismarck (N.D.)-based energy, mining and construction company, expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter of this year, Matteson said. The sale is subject to regulatory reviews.

The acquisition is a cash-for-stock transaction. When it is complete, Intermountain Gas will continue to operate under its own name, MDU officials said.

MDU also owns Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., Great Plains Natural Gas Co. and Cascade Natural Gas Corp.

Idaho has seen the industry consolidation trend firsthand. In June 2005, MidAmerican Energy Holding Co., which is controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment arm, said it was acquiring PacifiCorp, a six-state electric utility with 1.6 million customers in the western United States, including 60,000 in Idaho.

MidAmerican Energy acquired PacifiCorp from its parent, Scottish Power, for $5.1 billion, plus the assumption of $4.3 billion in debt. The company operates in Idaho as Rocky Mountain Power.

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393

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