SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) April, 1999
NiSource Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Indiana 35-1719974
(State or other jurisdiction (Commission (IRS Employer
of incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
801 E. 86th Avenue, Merrillville, Indiana 46410-6272
(Address of principal
executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code 219/853-5200
Form 8-K
ITEMS OF INFORMATION
ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS
(a) On April 14, 1999, the Shareholders of NIPSCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE:
NI) voted to change the energy/utility holding company's name to NiSource Inc.
(pronounced Nye-source).
Only the name of the holding company has changed. The names of Northern
Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), Bay State Gas Company and IWC Resources
Corp., the Company's major subsidiaries, remain the same. In addition, the
Company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol, NI, will not change.
Attached to this Form 8-K is the press release dated April 14, 1999 that,
among other things, announced the name change.
SIGNATURE
The following exhibit is being filed with this Form 8-K:
2.1 Press release dated April 14, 1999.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Company has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
NiSource Inc.
By (signed)________________________
Nina M. Rausch
Secretary
April 20, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 14, 1999
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Maria P. Hibbs
Director, Corporate Communications
(219) 647-6201
NIPSCO Industries changes name to NiSource Inc.
Chairman highlights achievements, future direction at annual meeting
SOUTH BEND, Ind.- Shareholders of NIPSCO Industries, Inc. (NYSE: NI) today
voted to change the energy/utility holding company's name to NiSource Inc.
(pronounced Nye-source).
"We believe NiSource describes the new direction of the company as a
multi-state supplier of energy and water resources and related
services," Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Gary L. Neale told
shareholders at their annual meeting. "In other words, we are delivering life's
essential resources to our customers - and, in turn, delivering added value to
our shareholders."
Only the name of the holding company has changed, Neale noted. The
names of Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), Bay State
Gas Company and IWC Resources Corp., the Company's major subsidiaries, remain
the same.
In addition, the Company's New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol, NI,
will not change.
At the meeting, Neale announced that the Company's earnings for
the first quarter of 1999 reached 62 cents per share, compared with 49 cents for
the same quarter in 1998. He attributed the improved earnings to stronger
operating results from the Company's natural gas, electricity and water
distribution businesses, driven by a return to more normal weather patterns, and
the inclusion of earnings from recently acquired Bay State Gas Company. Improved
performance of the Company's competitive products and services businesses also
contributed to the earnings growth, Neale said.
"You may have heard last week that you are now a shareholder of a
Fortune 500 company," Neale told shareholders gathered at the Century
Center in downtown South Bend. "In the April 26, 1999, edition of Fortune
magazine, you can see that our 22 percent yearly return to shareholders
over each of the last 10 years makes us No. 1 among all the Fortune 500
utilities."
-more-
The challenge, Neale noted, is to continue to bring outstanding returns to
shareholders in a constantly evolving energy/utility world and a volatile stock
market. He outlined NiSource's focused growth strategy to build a distribution
value chain around the Company's core natural gas, electricity and water
distribution businesses.
Neale urged shareholders and customers to follow the Company's progress
by viewing the new NiSource Web site, which debuts today. The site,
www.nisource.com, features stock quotes, news about NiSource and direct
links to subsidiaries' Web sites.
Neale also highlighted the Company's commitment to the environment,
noting that NiSource recently won the North American Waterfowl Management
Plan's National Great Blue Heron Award. The award recognizes that NiSource is
setting the standard for corporate environmental responsibility.
"We are the first utility to ever receive this award for our land
donations, contributions to local environmental projects, redevelopment of
brownfields and efforts to reduce emissions," Neale said.
At the meeting, Edmund A. Schroer, former chairman and chief executive
officer of NIPSCO Industries and Northern Indiana Public Service Company,
retired from the NiSource Board of Directors. Neale thanked Schroer for his 42
years of leadership, dedication and distinguished service to the Company.
Schroer's spot on the 10-member board was filled by the shareholders'
election of Roger A. Young, chairman of Bay State Gas Company. NiSource
acquired Bay State on Feb. 12, 1999. Westborough, Mass.-based Bay State
provides natural gas service to more than 300,000 customers in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.
More than 81 percent of the 128,627,282 outstanding shares of common
stock were voted at the meeting.
Shareholders elected three directors to the Board of Directors. They
include: Young; Ian M. Rolland, retired chairman and chief executive officer
of Lincoln National Corporation, Fort Wayne, Ind.; and John W. Thompson,
general manager, IBM Americas of IBM Corporation, White Plains, N.Y. Their
terms expire in 2002.
Other directors of NiSource include: Dr. Steven C. Beering, president,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.; Arthur J. Decio, chairman and chief
executive officer of Skyline Corporation, Elkhart, Ind.; James T. Morris,
chairman, chief executive officer and president of IWC Resources Corp., a
NiSource company based in Indianapolis; Neale; Denis E. Ribordy, vice
chairman of the Chicago Motor Club and retired president of Ribordy Drugs;
Robert J. Welsh, chairman and chief executive officer of Welsh, Inc.,
Merrillville, Ind.; and Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo, Gillen Dean and Siegfried
Professor of Management at the University of Notre Dame College of Business
Administration, South Bend, Ind.
Shareholders also approved the Company's Amended and Restated 1988 and
1994 Long-Term Incentive Plans.
NiSource, based in Merrillville, Ind., is a holding company whose primary
business is the distribution of electricity, natural gas and water in the
Midwest and Northeast United States. The company also markets utility services
and customer-focused resource solutions along a corridor stretching from Texas
to Maine. Information about NiSource and its subsidiaries is available via the
Internet at www.nisource.com.
###
Note to Editors: The full text of Gary Neale's remarks to shareholders is
available via the NiSource Web site. Click on "About Us" and view the press
release listings.
