Aquila's Acquisition of Cogentrix Uncertain.Business Editors KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 31, 2002 Aquila, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ILA ILA abbr. insulinlike activity ) announced today that recent downgrades of Dynegy's credit ratings, together with other adverse circumstances and events, have decreased the likelihood that Aquila's acquisition of privately held Cogentrix Energy can be completed as planned. The pending transaction includes a purchase price of $415 million and the assumption of recourse and non-recourse debt Non-Recourse Debt A loan that is secured by some sort of collateral, usually property. The issuer can seize the collateral if the borrower defaults. Notes: These types of projects are characterized by high capital expenditures, long loan periods, and uncertain revenue . Dynegy's downgrades by Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service Moody's Investors Service A leading global credit rating, research and risk analysis firm. Moody's Investors Service A leading firm engaged in credit rating, risk analysis, and research of fixed-income securities and their issuers. are expected to cause a Dynegy subsidiary to default under a sizeable agreement to purchase power from a Cogentrix subsidiary, calling into question the Aquila-Cogentrix agreement. Aquila signed a definitive agreement on April 29 to purchase 15 Cogentrix combined-cycle power plants in service or under construction. Based in Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City is the largest city in the state of Missouri. It encompasses parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest in Missouri, which includes counties in both Missouri and Kansas. , Aquila operates electricity and natural gas distribution networks serving more than six million customers in seven states and in Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. The company also owns and operates power generation and mid-stream natural gas assets. At March 31, 2002, Aquila had total assets of $12.3 billion. More information is available at www.aquila.com. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995 The terms "can be" and "are expected" and similar terms identity forward-looking information. Naturally, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty and actual events could be materially different. The following important factors, among others, could cause actual events to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: financial market conditions, actions by credit rating agencies Credit Rating Agencies Firms that compile information on and issue public credit ratings for a large number of companies. , and changes in interest rates; prices of natural gas and electricity; and the future economic condition of the customers served by Cogentrix. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed might not occur. |
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