AmeriGas Acquires Columbia Propane, Creates Largest Retail Marketer.

Business Editors

VALLEY FORGE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2001

AmeriGas Propane, Inc. general partner of AmeriGas Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APU), announced that the Partnership has acquired the retail propane distribution businesses of Columbia Energy Group, a NiSource Company (NYSE:NI), for approximately $202 million.

The combination, as previously announced, will create the nation's largest retail propane marketer, distributing more than one billion retail gallons from over 700 locations.

Lon R. Greenberg, chairman of AmeriGas said, "We are excited about the opportunities the acquisition of Columbia Propane presents. Given our track record of successfully integrating large distributors, we are confident that we will be able to achieve our operational and financial goals for this acquisition."

"We expect the financial results of Columbia to be accretive to earnings and cash flow in fiscal year 2002," continued Greenberg. He said the purchase, including transaction costs, was financed with the proceeds of the sale of approximately $161 million of newly-issued AmeriGas Partners Senior Notes and the issuance of 2,356,953 AmeriGas common units to Columbia Energy.

Eugene V. N. Bissell, chief executive officer of AmeriGas, said, "The Columbia operations add density to our existing operations, provide us with opportunities to penetrate new markets and will expand our PPX(R) grill cylinder exchange business. We are pleased to have capitalized on this opportunity to add significantly to our nationwide platform for growth."

"We believe this transaction not only enhances our ability to serve customers, but also presents additional opportunities for the employees of both companies," added Bissell. "The Columbia field employees are well respected in the industry and we look forward to welcoming them into the AmeriGas family."

AmeriGas Partners is one of the nation's largest propane marketers. UGI Corp. (NYSE:UGI) through subsidiaries owns 52% of the partnership and individual unitholders own the remaining 48%.

Comprehensive information about AmeriGas is available on the Internet at http://www.amerigas.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements which management believes to be reasonable as of today's date only. Actual results may differ significantly because of risks and uncertainties which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond management's control. You should read the Partnership's 2000 Annual Report on Form 10-K for a more extensive list of factors that could affect results. Among them are adverse weather conditions, price volatility and availability of propane, and the ability to effectively integrate the operations of Columbia Propane and achieve cost-saving efficiencies. The Partnership undertakes no obligation to release revisions to its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after today.