Dynegy sells Midstream for $2.475 billion

has entered into an agreement for the sale of its Midstream natural gas business to

, a Houston-headquartered independent company affiliated with private equity investor Warburg Pincus.

Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, Targa will acquire Dynegy's ownership interests in Dynegy Midstream Services, Limited Partnership, which holds Dynegy's natural gas gathering and processing assets, as well as its natural gas liquids fractionation, terminalling, storage, transportation, distribution and marketing assets.

Dynegy expects to receive $2.475 billion in cash, subject to working capital adjustments, of which $2.35 billion will be paid at closing. In addition to the amount payable at closing, based on current expectations, the company will realise a return of cash collateral of $125 million and eliminate its responsibility for approximately $75 million in letters of credit for the Midstream business, both within 60 days of the transaction closing in the fourth quarter 2005.

The Midstream organisation will continue to be headquartered in Houston. Dynegy's existing Midstream work force of nearly 800 field and corporate employees will join Targa, which is led by Chief Executive Officer Rene Joyce.

Dynegy's Midstream assets will be combined with Targa's

and

assets. Targa currently has midstream operations in West Texas and

, operating more than 2,000 miles of pipeline, five gas plants with 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day of capacity, and system throughput of about 370 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Additionally, Targa owns 40 percent of the Bridgeline pipeline system in

.