Rand Capital Corp. invested $500,000 in convertible promissory notes in Buffalo, NY-based Somerset Gas Transmission Co. LLC as part of a $3 million private placement bridge loan. Rand’s investment also provided a warrant for a minority equity interest in the company, which is planning to provide interstate natural gas pipeline transportation services from the Chicago hub and Appalachian producing basins to markets in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. Somerset’s plan involves gas transportation through its own pipelines and the lines of others. One of Somerset’s initial acquisitions was a 40-mile section of gathering line and related facilities in Indiana County, PA, from Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. “The Somerset management team has worked for more than five years to assemble a network of pipelines and rights-of-way to transport natural gas,” said Rand CFO Daniel P. Penberthy. “Rand’s funding will allow the company to continue this acquisition strategy as the company completes their pipeline network. In this regard, Rand’s investment is structured to provide both a current return and provides the option for Rand to participate in the company’s next round of financing.”
Buffalo
Articles from Buffalo
Industry Brief
Rand Capital Corp. invested $500,000 in convertible promissory notes in Buffalo, NY-based Somerset Gas Transmission Co. LLC as part of a $3 million private placement bridge loan. Rand’s investment also provided a warrant for a minority equity interest in the company, which is planning to provide interstate natural gas pipeline transportation services from the Chicago hub and Appalachian producing basins to markets in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. Somerset’s plan involves gas transportation through its own pipelines and the lines of others. One of Somerset’s initial acquisitions was a 40-mile section of gathering line and related facilities in Indiana County, PA, from Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. “The Somerset management team has worked for more than five years to assemble a network of pipelines and rights-of-way to transport natural gas,” said Rand CFO Daniel P. Penberthy. “Rand’s funding will allow the company to continue this acquisition strategy as the company completes their pipeline network. In this regard, Rand’s investment is structured to provide both a current return and provides the option for Rand to participate in the company’s next round of financing.”
People
Buffalo, NY-based National Fuel Gas Co. said Friday that it has elected Philip C. Ackerman to the position of chairman of the board, effective January 3. Ackerman, who became CEO of National Fuel in October 2001, succeeds Bernard J. Kennedy in both capacities. Ackerman, 57, joined the company in 1968 and has been president of National Fuel since July 1999. In other company action, the board of directors approved payment of a regular quarterly dividend of $0.2525 per share on the company’s common stock. In June 2001, the regular annual dividend was increased by 5.2% to an annual rate of $1.01, which included a special increase of 2 cents in addition to a 3-cent regular increase. These figures reflect the implementation of the company’s two-for-one common stock split on Sept. 7, 2001. The dividend is payable Jan. 15, 2002 to shareholders of record on Dec. 31, 2001. National Fuel is an integrated energy company with $3.4 billion in assets comprised of the following six operating segments: utility, pipeline and storage, exploration and production, international, energy marketing and timber.
National Fuel Sees 33% Annual Earnings Increase
Buffalo-based National Fuel Gas Co. reported for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2001 earnings of $169.5 million, or $2.11 per diluted share, a 33% increase over fiscal 2000 earnings of $127.2 million, or $1.61 per diluted share the previous year. The 2001 results were exclusive of a non-cash write-down of subsidiary Seneca Resources Corp.’s oil and gas assets in the amount of $104 million after tax, or $1.29 per diluted share.
