Unitil Corporation has completed the purchase of Northern Utilities, Inc. and Granite State Gas Transmission, Inc. from NiSource Inc. The purchase agreement between NiSource and Unitil was originally announced in February. All conditions of the agreement including the receipt of approvals from state regulatory authorities in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts were completed successfully in November.
Unitil welcomes the Northern and Granite employees, customers and communities to our system, said Robert G. Schoenberger, Unitil's chairman and CEO. Unitil is positioned as a strong and well-diversified regional utility system serving a variety of attractive and economically diverse communities, including some of the finest small cities in America.
With the acquisition, all 81 Northern and Granite employees and 52,000 natural gas distribution customers have become part of the Unitil system. Unitil now employs 430 full time employees and provides energy distribution services to approximately 167,000 customers in 71 cities and towns in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.
The purchase price was $160 million, plus $41.6 million for working capital, including $33.9 million of natural gas storage inventory. There is no acquisition premium. RBC Capital Markets Corporation served as Unitil's financial advisor for the transaction and Royal Bank of Canada is providing bridge financing for the deal. Unitil expects to close on previously committed long term debt financing of $90 million early this month and to raise additional capital through the issuance of common stock.
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