Exhibit 99.1
KEYSPAN
Climate is Everything
NEWS
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KeySpan Corporation For Immediate Release
Contacts: Investors Media Relations
George Laskaris Ed Yutkowitz
718.403.2526 718.403.2523
KeySpan Corporation Sells its Remaining Ownership Interest in KeySpan Canada
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brooklyn, New York, November 16, 2004 - KeySpan Corporation (NYSE:KSE) announced
today that it has agreed to sell its remaining ownership interest of
approximately 17.4% in its affiliate company, KeySpan Energy Canada Partnership
("KeySpan Canada"), to the KeySpan Facilities Income Fund (TSX:KEY.UN; KEY.DB)
(the "Fund").
The Fund has entered into an agreement to sell 10.872 million units of the Fund
at a price of CND$13.90 per unit for gross total proceeds of approximately
CDN$151 million. The proceeds of the offering will be used by the Fund to
acquire KeySpan Corporation's remaining interest in KeySpan Canada. KeySpan
Corporation will receive net proceeds of approximately CDN$143 million (or
approximately US$119 million), after commissions and expenses, resulting in an
estimated profit for book purposes of approximately US$19 million, after tax.
This offer is subject to normal regulatory approvals and is expected to close on
or about December 2, 2004.
"This transaction is the final step in the complete monetization of our
ownership interest in KeySpan Canada, once again demonstrating our commitment to
monetize our non-core assets and focus on growing our core businesses," said
Robert B. Catell, Chairman and CEO of KeySpan Corporation. "KeySpan intends to
use the proceeds from this transaction to initially pay down debt to further
strengthen our balance sheet."
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A member of Standard & Poor's 500 Index, KeySpan Corporation (NYSE:KSE) is the
largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast with 2.5 million customers,
operating regulated natural gas utilities in New York, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire which do business as KeySpan Energy Delivery. This customer focused
business is complemented by the Energy Services business which offers a
portfolio of energy-related products, services and solutions to homes and
businesses. KeySpan is also the largest owner of electric generation in New York
State. We own approximately 6,400 megawatts of generating capacity, which
provides power to the 1.1 million customers of the Long Island Power Authority
and supplies 25% of New York City's capacity needs. In addition to these assets,
KeySpan has strategic investments in production, pipeline transportation,
distribution and storage, and owns minority interest in natural gas exploration
and Canadian gas processing. KeySpan has headquarters in Brooklyn, Boston and
Long Island.
Certain statements contained herein are forward-looking statements, which
reflect numerous assumptions and estimates and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor
for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. There are possible developments that could cause our actual
results to differ materially from those forecasted or implied in the
forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this
filing. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially are: general economic conditions, especially in the Northeast United
States; available sources and costs of fuel; volatility of energy prices in a
deregulated market environment as well as in the source of natural gas and fuel
used to generate electricity; potential write-down of our investment in natural
gas properties when natural gas prices are depressed or if we have significant
downward revisions in our estimated proved gas reserves; federal and state
regulatory initiatives that increase competition, threaten cost and investment
recovery and impact rate structure; our ability to successfully reduce our cost
structures; implementation of new accounting standards; the degree to which we
develop unregulated business ventures, as well as federal and state regulatory
policies affecting our ability to retain and operate those business ventures;
our ability to identify and make complementary acquisitions, as well as the
successful integration of those acquisitions; inflationary trends and interest
rates; and risks detailed from time to time in reports and other documents filed
by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
2