May 2014, Vol. 241, No. 5

In The News

Energen Selling Natural Gas Utility To The Laclede Group

Birmingham, AL-based Energen Corporation will sell its natural gas utility business, Alabama Gas Corporation (Alagasco), to The Laclede Group, Inc. The value of the transaction is $1.6 billion, comprised of $1.28 billion cash and $320 million of debt.

“This transaction allows Energen to become a pure exploration and production company, a trend being rewarded by the financial markets,” said James McManus, Energen’s chairman and CEO. Energen plans to enhance its financial capacity to accelerate the pace of drilling and development of its Permian Basin assets in 2015 and beyond.

Founded in 1857 as The Laclede Gas Light Company, Laclede Group’s gas utility segment serves St. Louis and eastern Missouri through Laclede Gas and Kansas City and western Missouri through Missouri Gas Energy. Laclede has 1.1 million customers in Missouri, while Alagasco has 422,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers, Energen said.