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May 04, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thelen Team Assists MDU Resources Group in $634 Million Asset Sale

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NEW YORK (May 4, 2007)—Thelen LLP has assisted Centennial Energy Resources LLC, a subsidiary of longtime firm client MDU Resources Group, Inc., in inking a definitive agreement to sell its independent power production portfolio to Montana Acquisition Company LLC for approximately $600 million.  Montana will also assume some $34 million in project-related debt in the transaction.

As part of the deal, Montana will also acquire MDU's Colorado Energy Management, a business unit that provides design, construction, operation, and maintenance services to energy providers.  A privately held energy concern, Montana is partnered in the deal with multibillion-dollar private equity fund Natural Gas Partners VIII LP.

The transaction is scheduled to close in June and will be the largest in MDU's long history.  Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund MDU's acquisition of Cascade Natural Gas Corp. and provide additional cash for growth opportunities in MDU's core lines of business.

Centennial Power's generating assets include 603 MW of electric generating capacity located in Montana, Colorado, California, and Georgia. The assets are fully contracted under mid- to long-term power purchase and sale agreements, and include coal-fired, natural gas-fired, and wind-powered generation. Goldman Sachs also conducted a hotly contested, four-month competitive bidding auction of these assets on behalf of MDU.

Thelen’s firm-wide MDU team was led by New York managing partner Doug Davidson and also included partners Michael Weinstein (NY, Tax), Jarrett Fugh (SF, Real Estate), Lisa Cole (SV, IP), and Phil Lookadoo (DC, Regulatory), as well as New York Business and Finance associates Jennifer Goldberg, Tim Gladden, Binh-Minh Ha, and Emily Lewis, and TMC associate Craig Conte.

 

For more information, contact:

Kevin Livingston
National Manager of Public Relations
Thelen LLP
415.369.7224
klivingston@thelen.com

 

About Thelen LLP
Thelen LLP is an international law firm with approximately 600 attorneys, and offices in New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Hartford, Northern New Jersey, Shanghai, and London. The firm provides superior legal services in complex commercial litigation; corporate and capital markets transactions; project and asset finance; construction; labor and employment; intellectual property; information technology; domestic and international tax; employee benefits; government affairs; and real estate.

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