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 Inc. has appointed several key
leaders to be in place at its pipeline and its exploration and
production units 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 Karl Brack Jim Dissen
NiSource Inc. Columbia Gas Transmission Columbia Natural Resources
219-647-6201 304-357-2396 304-353-5102
NISOURCE ANNOUNCES POST-MERGER LEADERSHIP FOR PIPELINE OPERATIONS;
HARMON TO HEAD COLUMBIA NATURAL RESOURCES
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (August 22, 2000) - NiSource Inc. has
appointed several key leaders to be in place at its pipeline and
exploration and production units upon completion of its $6 billion
merger with Columbia Energy Group, which was announced Feb. 28 and is
expected to close by year-end.
W. HENRY HARMON will remain President of Columbia Natural
Resources, Inc., the natural gas exploration and production business
headquartered in Charleston, W.Va. Harmon will report to James K.
Abcouwer, who will be NiSource's senior vice president of Merchant
Energy Services in the combined company. Columbia Natural Resources
is one of the largest producers of natural gas and oil in the
Appalachian Basin, with holdings that include the equivalent of 860
billion cubic feet of gas reserves, produced from 8,000 wells, and
more than 5,400 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines.
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 remain based at
Columbia's pipeline operations and commercial support center in
Charleston, with responsibility for the 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 today 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.
TERRANCE L. MCGILL also will continue in the role of president of
Columbia Gulf Transmission Co. in Houston, Texas.
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 Columbia Natural Resources
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 companies have had with West Virginia
and the other 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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