renew: 2 a few minutes ago published: 13 a few minutes ago
The state has approved the $800 million sale of Alaska’s largest natural gas utility.
Enstar Natural Gas, which has approximately 150,000 customers in the Anchorage and Cook Inlet areas, was sold by AltaGas to Alaska Utilities Holdings, a subsidiary of TriSummit Utilities.
Both Canadian-based parent companies announced the deal in May and are awaiting approval from the Alaska Regulatory Commission. The agency approved the deal in December. 21 of 48 pages of order.
The sale is expected to close early next year, the companies said. All Enstar employees will move to the new company, AltaGas said. Enstar employs approximately 200 full-time workers.
The state agency said in a statement that the acquisition proposal demonstrates “sufficient organization, financial support, technical facilities and equipment, operational expertise, and management and administrative experience to support the discovery of the fit, willingness and ability to provide public utility services” in its order .
The deal will more than double TriSummit’s customer base. The natural gas distribution company has about 133,000 customers in Canada.
AltaGas said the sale will help it reduce debt and create financial flexibility for future growth in other areas.
Enstar last year reported net income of $24 million, assets of $610 million and liabilities of $430 million, the agency’s order said.
The assets involved in the sale include Enstar’s majority stake in the Cook Inlet natural gas storage facility in Alaska, which protects against potential disruption of natural gas supplies in south central Alaska. Like Enstar, Storage Facility is a stand-alone utility. It reported net income of $11 million last year.