CLEVELAND, Dec. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Gas Natural Inc. (NYSE MKT: EGAS) (the "Company"), a holding company operating local natural gas utilities serving approximately 67,000 customers in four states, announced that it recently completed the sale of its Kentucky utility, Public Gas Company, to Kentucky Frontier Gas, LLC and its Pennsylvania utilities, Clarion and Walker, to Utility Pipeline, Ltd. Regulatory approval preceded both closings. As anticipated, total proceeds were approximately $2.7 million and the financial effect of the sales will be reflected in 2015 fourth quarter results. The Company previously announced that it entered into agreements for both transactions.
Mr. Gregory J. Osborne, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gas Natural, commented, "The completion of these divestitures and our program to monetize non-core assets marks yet another milestone along the path to focus our business on opportunities that will create greater shareholder value. Selling our non-core assets enables us to direct our energies and resources on our operations which have higher growth potential. In Montana and Ohio, we can leverage the scale we already have in those markets. North Carolina and Maine are both underserved markets where demand for natural gas is growing."
About Gas Natural Inc.
Gas Natural Inc., a holding company, distributes and sells natural gas to end-use residential, commercial, and industrial customers. It distributes approximately 26 billion cubic feet of natural gas to approximately 67,000 customers through regulated utilities operating in Montana, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina. The Company's other operations include interstate pipeline, natural gas production, and natural gas marketing. The Company's Montana public utility was originally incorporated in 1909. Its strategy for growth is to expand throughput in its markets, while looking for acquisitions that are either adjacent to its existing utilities or in under saturated markets. Gas Natural Inc. regularly posts information on its website at www.egas.net.
Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The Company is including the following cautionary statement in this release to make applicable and to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Gas Natural Inc. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, those that are identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes" and similar expressions. Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. Factors that may affect forward-looking statements and the Company's business generally include but are not limited to the Company's ability to successfully integrate the operations of the companies it has recently acquired and consummate additional acquisitions, the Company's continued ability to make dividend payments, the Company's ability to implement its business plan, fluctuating energy commodity prices, the possibility that regulators may not permit the Company to pass through all of its increased costs to its customers, changes in the utility regulatory environment, wholesale and retail competition, the Company's ability to satisfy its debt obligations, including compliance with financial covenants, weather conditions, litigation risks, and various other matters, many of which are beyond the Company's control, the risk factors and cautionary statements made in the Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other factors that the Company is currently unable to identify or quantify, but may exist in the future. Gas Natural Inc. expressly undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Gas Natural Inc.'s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
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SOURCE Gas Natural Inc.
