Following the announcement earlier in the day that it had unloaded its CMS Viron Energy Services to Chevron Energy Solutions (see related story), CMS Energy reported Wednesday evening that it has also completed the sale of its CMS Field Services subsidiary to Cantera Natural Gas Inc.

CMS said the proceeds were approximately $112.6 million cash and a $50 million face-value note, which is payable from 2005 through 2009 contingent on the financial performance of the Fort Union and Bighorn natural gas gathering systems in Wyoming. Like the proceeds it received from the Viron sale, CMS said all proceeds from the field services sale will be used to reduce debt.

CMS Field Services provides gathering, compression, treating and processing services for natural gas and natural gas liquids. It has facilities in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Wyoming. The purchaser, Cantera Natural Gas, is a Morgan Stanley Capital Partners portfolio company.

“The sale of CMS Field Services and other non-core assets helps us reduce debt and strengthen liquidity,” said CMS CEO Ken Whipple. “The goal of our back-to-basics strategy is to be a smaller, stronger company with less business risk and more predictable earnings. The completion of the CMS Field Services sale boosts our efforts to increase our financial flexibility and focus on our core businesses.”

Whipple noted that the CMS Field Services sale and the $1.8 billion sale of the CMS Panhandle Companies in June keep the company on track to reach its goal of realizing about $900 million in net proceeds from asset sales this year and reducing its debt. Currently, CMS has completed or announced more than $3.8 billion in asset sales, including assumed debt, over the past 18 months. The company is in the process of selling additional non-core assets.

©Copyright 2003 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.