Report: City picks PGW buyer

UIL Holdings Corp. is the winning bidder for Philadelphia Gas Works, according to a Philadelphia Daily News story. The newspaper said it obtained a letter from a lawyer for a rival bidder that confirmed the news.

Here's more:

The letter obtained by the Daily News was from Cozen O'Connor lawyer Steve Cozen, who represented Liberty Energy Trust. It did not include the price or terms of the UIL deal. Cozen could not be reached for comment.

Headquartered in New Haven, Conn. UIL Holdings Corporation bills itself as a "diversified energy delivery company serving approximately 706,000 electric and natural gas utility customers in 66 communities across two states, with combined total assets of over $4 billion," according to its website.

Back in October, financial advisor Lazard Frères & Co. LLC conducted a cost/benefit analysis finding that the sale price was expected to range from $1.45 billion to $1.9 billion, figures that would award the city net proceeds between $422 million and $872 million.

In November, Mayor Michael Nutter proposed that the funds from the sale be used to benefit the city’s pension fund. A deal would allow Philadelphia to be freed of the $18 million annual PGW franchise payment while also allowing more money than is even required by law to be placed into its municipal pension fund, the city said at the time.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal