[GRAPHIC OMITTED] atlas
pipeline
partners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Contact: Michael L. Staines
President and Chief Operating Officer
1845 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 546-5005
(215) 546-4785 (facsimile)
Page 1of 2
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ATLAS PIPELINE PARTNERS, L.P.
TO ACQUIRE
ALASKA PIPELINE COMPANY
Philadelphia, PA, September 16, 2003 - Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (AMEX:APL)
("Atlas") announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Alaska
Pipeline Company ("APC") from SEMCO ENERGY, INC. (NYSE:SEN) ("SEMCO") for total
transaction costs of $95 million in cash. The transaction is subject to various
regulatory approvals, including that of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.
The APC gas transmission system delivers gas into the metropolitan area of
Anchorage, Alaska, where through ENSTAR Natural Gas Company ("ENSTAR"), a local
distribution company, it serves approximately 90% of Anchorage's population
(representing 40% of the total population of the state of Alaska). ENSTAR, which
will remain a division of SEMCO, has committed to use APC exclusively for its
gas transmission service to Anchorage for a period of ten years and will
continue to provide operating and maintenance services to APC for a period of at
least five years. The APC system's present design delivery capacity is 410
million cubic feet of gas per day, with an average throughput during 2002 of 132
million cubic feet of gas per day.
Michael Staines, President of Atlas' General Partner, a subsidiary of Resource
America Inc. (NASDAQ:REXI), stated "We are very pleased to acquire the Alaska
Pipeline Company. We expect the APC acquisition to be accretive to our
unitholders while keeping our debt to total capital at a conservative ratio. APC
will provide Atlas with a significant and reliable source of additional income
based on fixed capacity reservation and volumetric transportation fee
components. This is an excellent complement to our current sources of income
that are highly subject to the variable selling price of the gas we transport.
We also anticipate strong growth possibilities as the APC system is expanded to
serve the growing needs of the Anchorage area."
RBC Capital Markets acted as Atlas' financial advisor and Wachovia Bank,
National Association and Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co., Inc. will provide
financing for the acquisition of APC. Vinson & Elkins, LLC and Ledgewood Law
firm P.C. acted as legal counsel to Atlas.
Marcus Jackson, SEMCO Chairman, President and CEO stated, "This transaction
creates an important strategic business relationship between Atlas and SEMCO. It
allows ENSTAR to focus its energy and resources on growing its distribution
system while continuing to provide exceptional service to our customers."
Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. owns and operates more than 1,380 miles of natural
gas gathering pipelines in western Pennsylvania, western New York and eastern
Ohio. The Partnership is paid a fee for the natural gas volumes that are
gathered and transported through its pipeline system, based on the gross selling
price of that gas, from approximately 4,200 wells that are currently connected
to the system. For more information, please contact investor relations at
pschreiber@resourceamerica.com.
SEMCO Energy, Inc., formerly Southeastern Michigan Gas Company, is a diversified
energy and infrastructure services company. The Company and its subsidiaries
operate in four business segments: gas distribution, which distributes and
transports natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers;
construction services, which installs and upgrades compressor stations and
underground natural gas mains and service lines; information technology (IT)
services, which provides IT infrastructure outsourcing services and other IT
services, and propane, pipelines and storage, which consists of three pipelines
and a gas storage facility, all of which are located in Michigan.
Resource America, Inc. (Nasdaq:REXI), the parent company of Atlas Pipeline
Partners, L.P.'s general partner, is a proprietary asset management company that
uses industry-specific expertise to generate and administer investment
opportunities for its own account and for outside investors in the energy, real
estate and equipment leasing industries.
Statements made in this release may include forward-looking statements, which
involve substantial risks and uncertainties. The Partnership's actual results,
performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or
implied in this release as a result of many factors, including competition
within the energy industry, climactic conditions, volatility in the price of
gas, actual versus projected drilling activity, volumetric production from wells
connected to the Partnership's gas-gathering pipeline system, and the cost of
supplies and services in the energy industry.