Gas Company selling
for $238M

The Singapore investment company that bought the local Gas Company LLC for $115 million in 2003 is selling the Hawaii business for $238 million in cash, more than double what it originally paid.

A subsidiary of K1 Ventures Ltd. of Singapore has agreed to sell the 300-employee Gas Company to New York-based Macquarie Infrastructure Co., which invests in airports, roads and energy companies.

In Hawaii, K1 Ventures recently acquired 34 Union 76 gasoline stations and other assets from ConocoPhillips for $38.15 million.

K1 Ventures said the sale of the Gas Company will boost earnings, and proceeds will be used to repay debt relating to the gas company and for divestment costs. Earnings from the Gas Company helped more than double K1 Ventures' profit in the year ended in June to $34 million, the company recently said.

The Gas Company, founded in Hawaii in 1904, provides gas services to 67,000 business and residential customers statewide.

All of the Gas Company's employees will be kept and Macquarie Infrastructure has agreed to honor an existing union contract with the Teamsters, the company said. The deal is expected to close sometime next year and must receive federal and state regulatory approval.

"Utilities such as the Gas Company operate with long-life, high-value physical assets and enjoy consistent demand over time," said Peter Stokes, chief executive of Macquarie Infrastructure. The company is managed by a subsidiary of Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd.

Macquarie Infrastructure raised $535 million in an initial public offering of stock last year. Its shares closed up 2 cents yesterday at $27.94 on the New York Stock Exchange.

K1 Ventures, a venture capital company, is headed by Steven J. Green, former U.S. ambassador to Singapore during the Clinton administration. Another K1 subsidiary recently paid $472 million for a U.S. company that leases railcars.