NorthWestern board says Montana cities’ offer not enough

Calling it inadequate and too risky, NorthWestern Corp.’s board of directors has unanimously rejected what it called a revised offer by five Montana cities to buy the utility, just as it had an earlier unsolicited bid.

Mike Hanson, NorthWestern’s president and chief executive officer, said it is difficult to see the cities’ Sept. 29 proposal “as anything other than a misguided, expensive and risky experiment in public policy.”

NorthWestern criticized the cities’ revised offer as “functionally equivalent” to their June 30 offer to buy the company for $32.50 a share, or about $2.3 billion, including the assumption of $825 million in debt. NorthWestern’s directors rejected that offer July 7.
In rejecting the new bid, the board said the cities failed to adequately address “the unacceptable legal, regulatory, tax and financing risks” associated with the proposed acquisition and did not offer “adequate financial consideration.”

Montana Public Power Inc., which includes the cities of Bozeman, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula and the consolidated government of Butte-Silver Bow, wants to buy NorthWestern’s utility holdings in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

By CHARLES S. JOHNSON Missoulian State Bureau

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2005/10/22/news/mtregional/news07.txt

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