CMS Energy Corp. and Southern Union Co. intend to respond as quickly as possible to a request from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding Southern Union’s pending acquisition of CMS’s Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co., according to a Form 8-K filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The requests will delay the transaction’s closing, originally scheduled for March 31, unless the FTC’s request is settled through a consent order, the companies said. If they cannot close the deal by March 31, cash-strapped CMS said it has adequate reserves to retire a $295.8 million revolving credit facility. CMS has been selling off many of its assets to pare down its debt and stabilize its credit rating.

In the 8-K filing, CMS said it planned to use the sale’s proceeds to pay down the facility, which has $124 million outstanding and a maturity date of March 31. CMS already has asked the lending banks to extend the credit facility’s maturity date until the Panhandle sale or June 30, whichever is earlier.

The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy already has approved the transaction. It also is pending approval before the Missouri Public Service Commission, according to the filing. The FTC request was made under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

Southern Union and AIG Highstar Capital LP announced the agreement with CMS to purchase Panhandle for $1.8 billion, which included $1.166 billion in gross debt (see Daily GPI, Dec. 24). The purchase would be Southern Union’s first ownership of interstate natural gas pipeline facilities.

In related news, the office of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox notified state regulators on Thursday that it would closely review a request by CMS unit Consumers Energy Co., which wants to issue $1.08 billion in securitization bonds. CMS is headquartered in Dearborn, MI.

Consumers Energy filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission earlier this month seeking permission to issue the bonds, which would be backed by ratepayers, to recover expenses for environmental upgrades at power plants and other projects.

“The Attorney General has intervened in the case to ensure that Consumers Energy is not unlawfully passing on additional costs to its ratepayers,” the office said in a press release issued Wednesday. By intervening, the office reserves the right to make additional filings on the matter in the future.

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