Latham & Watkins Advises CenterPoint Energy in US$1.2 Billion Sale of Natural Gas Assets

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) has announced the sale of its Louisiana and Mississippi natural gas local distribution businesses to Bernhard Capital Partners, a services and infrastructure-focused private equity management firm, for US$1.2 billion. The assets include approximately 12,000 miles of main pipeline in Louisiana and Mississippi serving approximately 380,000 metered customers. CenterPoint’s LDCs are the second largest natural gas LDCs in both Louisiana and Mississippi by customer accounts, with a combined workforce of approximately 550 employees.

Latham & Watkins LLP represents CenterPoint Energy in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by Houston partners Ryan Maierson and Nick Dhesi, with associates Ashley Nguyen, Monika Kluziak, Catherine Sims, and Nikky Wei. Advice was also provided on intellectual property matters by Washington, D.C. counsel Kieran Dickinson, with associate Lyle Stewart; on executive compensation, employment, and benefits matters by Los Angeles partner Michelle Carpenter, with associate Courtney Thomson; on finance matters by Houston partner Matthew Jones, with associate Max Fin; on government contracts matters by Washington, D.C. partner Kyle Jefcoat, with associate Genevieve Hoffman; on real estate matters by San Diego counsel Aaron Friberg; on tax matters by Houston partners Tim Fenn and Jared Grimley, with associate Dominick Constantino; on antitrust matters by Washington, D.C. partner Jason Cruise and Washington, D.C. counsel Peter Todaro, with associates Brian Goodell and Mary Tursi; on energy regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Patrick Nevins; on data and technology transactions matters by New York partner Jeffrey Tochner, with associate Sebastian Moss and Ece Gonulal; on environmental matters by Los Angeles/Houston partner Joshua Marnitz, with associate Nolan Fargo; on insurance matters by Los Angeles partner Harrison White; on data privacy matters by Houston counsel Robert Brown; and on other regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner James Barker.