Filed by: NiSource Inc.
Pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act of 1933
Subject Company: Columbia Energy Group
Registration Statement File No: 333-33896
On August 22, 2000, NiSource announced that it has appointed
several key leaders to be in place at its natural gas pipeline units
and at TPC Corporation upon completion of its $6 billion merger with
Columbia Energy Group. The text of the press release is set forth
below.
TEXT OF PRESS RELEASE
AUGUST 22, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Maria Hibbs Bob Kiser
NiSource Inc. Columbia Gulf Transmission
219-647-6201 713-267-4180
NISOURCE ANNOUNCES POST-MERGER LEADERSHIP FOR
PIPELINE OPERATIONS, TPC CORP.; MCGILL TO CONTINUE
AS PRESIDENT OF HOUSTON'S COLUMBIA GULF TRANSMISSION
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (August 22, 2000) - NiSource Inc. has
appointed several key leaders to be in place at its natural gas
pipeline units and at TPC Corporation upon completion of its $6
billion merger with Columbia Energy Group, which was announced Feb. 28
and is expected to close by year-end.
JAMES K. ABCOUWER, currently a senior vice president of NiSource
and president and chief executive officer of NiSource's EnergyUSA,
Inc. subsidiary, will become president of Houston-based TPC
Corporation, a natural gas marketer and gas asset portfolio manager
for utilities.
TERRANCE L. MCGILL will continue in the role of president of
Columbia Gulf Transmission Co., the Houston-based pipeline unit.
McGill, who has been president of Columbia Gulf since 1996, has more
than 20 years of diversified experience in the natural gas industry
with a particular emphasis on interstate transportation and contract
negotiations.
W. HARRIS MARPLE, currently senior vice president for Field
Services for Columbia's pipeline operations will continue in that role
as senior vice president of operations for both Columbia Gas
Transmission and Columbia Gulf Transmission, as well as for NiSource's
Crossroads Pipeline Company and NiSource's investment in Portland
Natural Gas Transmission System. Marple will be based in Charleston,
W.Va., with responsibility for operations, engineering and technical
support of a 17,000-mile interstate natural gas pipeline system
stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the U.S. Midwest and Northeast.
The company also announced that GLEN L. KETTERING, senior vice
president for Customer Services at Columbia Gas Transmission Corp.,
has been named president of the natural gas pipeline unit. A
Charleston native, Kettering will be based at the company's Fair
Lakes, Va., office.
All three of the pipeline officers will report to CATHERINE G.
ABBOTT, who will become president of Pipeline Operations when the
merger is completed. Her appointment was announced Aug. 1.
"Columbia's pipeline operations and NiSource's TPC are important
elements in NiSource's strategy to serve the energy-intensive
geographic corridor stretching from the Gulf Coast through Chicago to
New England. We intend to continue the long and successful
partnership that the Columbia and NiSource companies have had with the
states in which we will have operations," said Gary L. Neale, NiSource
chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Once the merger is completed, NiSource will serve more than 3.6
million gas and electric customers primarily located in nine states.
Its operations will span the high-growth energy corridor extending
from the Gulf of Mexico through Chicago to New England, creating the
largest natural gas distributor east of the Rockies, with wholesale
and retail electric operations.
The NiSource/Columbia merger is on target to close by the end of
2000, pending approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The combination was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission in July, following necessary state actions regarding the
companies' distribution companies in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Ohio, Maine and New Hampshire. The
transaction also recently cleared the waiting period under the Hart-
Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act at the U.S. Department of
Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Shareholders of both
companies approved the merger in June.
NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) is a holding company with headquarters
in Merrillville, Ind., whose primary business is the distribution of
electricity, natural gas and water in the Midwest and Northeastern
United States. The company also markets utility services and
customer-focused resource solutions along a corridor from Texas
through Chicago to Maine. More information about the company is
available on the Internet at www.nisource.com.
Columbia Energy Group (NYSE: CG), based in Herndon, Va., is one
of the nation's leading energy services companies. Its operating
companies engage in nearly all phases of the natural gas business,
including exploration and production, transmission, storage and
distribution, as well as propane and petroleum product sales and
electric power generation. More information about Columbia is
available on the Internet at www.columbiaenergygroup.com.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking
statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
the projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations discussed
herein include factors that are beyond the companies' ability to
control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future market
conditions, the behavior of other market participants and the
actions of federal and state regulators.
Other factors include, but are not limited to, actions in the
financial markets, weather conditions, economic conditions in the
two companies' service territory, fluctuations in energy-related
commodity prices, conversion activity, other marketing efforts
and other uncertainties. These and other risk factors are
detailed from time to time in the two companies' SEC reports.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of
this release. The companies do not undertake any obligation to
publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of
the document.
In addition to other documents filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission by the two companies, NiSource and the new
holding company have filed a registration statement, which
contains a joint proxy statement for NiSource and Columbia Energy
Group. The final joint proxy statement/prospectus, dated April
24, 2000, is available and has been distributed to the companies'
shareholders. Investment and security holders are urged to read
the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents
filed with the SEC because they contain important information.
Investors and security holders may receive the joint proxy
statement/prospectus and other documents free of charge at the
SEC's Web site, www.sec.gov, from NiSource Investor Relations at
801 East 86th Avenue, Merrillville, Indiana 46410 or at its Web
site, www.nisource.com, or from Columbia Investor Relations at
13880 Dulles Corner Lane, Herndon, Virginia 20171 or at its Web
site, www.columbiaenergygroup.com.
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