Fuel oil delivery firm Griffith Energy Services, a subsidiary of CH Energy Group, Inc., on Nov. 4 announced the sale of its operating divisions serving markets in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, to Canada-based Superior Plus as part of a strategic streamlining that it said will allow the firm to reduce the volatility of cash flow and focus on its Mid-Atlantic operations.

Superior Plus is acquiring approximately 47,000 customers in the deal and will pay Griffith $76 million, before closing adjustments. The sale, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in December.

“The transaction follows an approximately year-long strategic review of how not only to best optimize Griffith’s strengths in its most advantageous markets, but also to ‘right size’ the investments we hold in the fuel oil delivery industry within CH Energy Group’s portfolio of business units,” said CH Energy Group Chairman, President and CEO Steven V. Lant.

Ahead of the divestiture, Griffith's fuel distribution business supplies energy products and services to approximately 108,000 customers in 10 states, stretching from R.I. to Washington, D.C.

“Despite the excellent performance of Griffith throughout the markets it serves, we became concerned in 2008 about the effect of high oil prices on our working capital requirements,” he said. “This sale consolidates operations in our strongest market area, reduces cash flow volatility and allows us to realize a gain for our shareholders.”

According to Lant the exact amount of the gain from the transaction is subject to certain adjustments that will be determined at closing and will be disclosed at a later date.

He said that Griffith will retain approximately 60,000 customers throughout several Mid-Atlantic states, and will continue to expand as appropriate within that region through selected “tuck-in” acquisitions.

New York-based CH Energy Group is a family of companies seizing new opportunities in the energy marketplace through two primary subsidiaries.

Subsidiary Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. is a regulated transmission and distribution utility serving approximately 300,000 electric and about 74,000 natural gas customers in eight counties of New York State’s Mid-Hudson Valley, and delivers natural gas and electricity in a 2,600 square mile service territory that extends north from the suburbs of New York City to the capital district at Albany.

The other subsidiary is Central Hudson Enterprises Corp., a non-regulated subsidiary, which is the umbrella for a family of energy-related companies and investments focused primarily on fuel distribution and renewable energy. Central Hudson Enterprises also has interest in an ethanol plant Lexington, Nebraska, and several renewable energy projects in the Northeast.