Bedminster, NJ-based NUI Corp. said it has retained Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) as co-advisor on its sale of the entire company. CSFB will join Berenson & Co., which has been assisting the company in its efforts to maximize value for its shareholders.

In late September (see Daily GPI, Sept. 29), NUI stunned the financial community by announcing that it will sell the entire integrated natural gas business within the next few months. CFO A. Mark Abramovic — who was appointed president following John Kean Jr.’s sudden resignation — said the board of directors of the New Jersey-based firm considered a sale in the best interests of all stakeholders going forward because of credit downgrades and “adverse business conditions.”

“CSFB is one of the world’s top investment bankers and financial advisors and brings tremendous knowledge and a vast network of contacts to assist us in the sale of the company,” said Mark Abramovic, NUI president. “Together, we believe that CSFB and Berenson represent an extremely strong team, which will help us achieve our goal of maximizing value for our shareholders.”

NUI is a diversified energy company that operates natural gas utilities, as well as businesses involved in natural gas storage and pipeline activities and wholesale energy portfolio and risk management. The company has 265,000 gas customers in New Jersey under Elizabethtown Gas Co., 100,000 in Florida with City Gas Co., 55,000 in Maryland and about 500 in Virginia under Elkton Gas Co. It also jointly owns a gas storage field in Virginia with Duke Energy Gas Transmission (DEGT), which can hold about 1 Bcf.

The 148-year-old holding company’s wholesale unit contains the operations of the NUI Energy Brokers Inc. subsidiary and the storage and pipeline operations of Virginia Gas, and the Retail segment includes the operations of NUI Telecom Inc., Utility Business Services Inc. and NUI Energy Inc. subsidiaries. In May, NUI sold substantially all of the customer accounts of retail trading subsidiary NUI Energy Inc. to Houston Energy Services Co. LLC (see Daily GPI, May 29 ).

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