Metromedia Co. has purchased a majority interest in New Jersey-based CPM Energy Inc., formerly Cogen Marketing Power, for an undisclosed amount of cash, making it possibly the largest aggregator of natural gas and electricity in the nation.

The deal, which has been completed already, effectively doubles the existing 1,200 commercial customer base of CPM Energy, which has been renamed Metromedia Energy, said Scott Spiewak, one of three holders of minority interests in the new company. He also will be vice president and general counsel.

He projects the new company’s aggregation business will double to 800 commercial gas accounts for about $30 million a year in sales, and to 1,500 electric accounts for $80 million to $100 million annually, as a result of the deal with Metromedia. Spiewak believes this makes the new company the biggest energy aggregator in the United States, ahead of New Energy Ventures in California.

“It makes us considerably stronger with a lot more capital. We also have a lot more customers because we now represent the entire Metromedia group,” as well as CPM Energy’s existing commercial energy customers, Spiewak noted. Metromedia, a diversified concern headquartered in New York City with interests in telecommunications, and about 1,000 hotels and restaurant operations, is owned by billionaire John Kluge, one of the richest men in the U.S.

With the purchase completed, “our mandate is to focus on buttressing our back-office operation so we’ll be able to handle that for not just our own sites, but also for others, and to rapidly expand our buyer’s group to leverage our purchasing power.” The newly named company will continue to be based in new Jersey.

Susan Parker

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