In its second announced transaction in two days, TXU Corp. on Friday agreed to sell Oncor Utility Solutions, its consulting and asset management business, to UMS Group, a global utility consulting company headquartered in Parsippany, NJ. Financial details were not disclosed.

The TXU subsidiary was formed in September 2001 to provide asset management, design and project management, resource management, supply chain consulting, emergency preparedness and other services to investor-owned utilities and cooperatives in North America. UMS, which has extensive experience in business growth strategies for the utility industry, assisted Oncor in launching the unregulated business.

Under terms of the agreement, UMS, which was founded in 1989, will assume ownership of all Oncor contracts and will continue the ongoing marketing efforts. Oncor has approximately 12 contracts, including asset management outsourcing contracts with two Canadian utilities, Essex Power and Erie-Thames Power, in Ontario. The transaction will have no material effect on TXU’s earnings or cash flows, according to the company.

“Although Oncor Utility Solutions was beginning to gain some momentum, it’s not core to TXU’s business,” said Wade Freeman, executive vice president of Oncor. “Oncor Utility Solutions and UMS Group are a better fit and share the same business model.”

Jack Shearman, CEO of UMS, said the company was excited about expanding its outsourcing business. “This is an area ripe for innovation and ready for better integration of systems, stronger performance management and more timely and effective information for decision making. At the bottom line, we believe that asset management outsourcing has the potential to significantly improve return on assets in the utility industry.”

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