Tokyo Gas, 2 Others Consider Acquiring Sendai-City Gas Utility

By Megumi Yamanaka and Michio Nakayama

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Gas Co., Japan's biggest distributor of the fuel, and two other companies are considering bidding for a gas utility in the country's northern city of Sendai that may be privatized in April 2010.

``We are studying whether the acquisition will contribute to profit and whether our entrance into the area will benefit locals,'' spokesman Naoyoshi Ogake said. Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. are also considering the acquisition, Tohoku spokesman Mitsuhiro Takauchi and Japan Petroleum spokesman Shigeyoshi Hasegawa said by phone today.

To contact the reporters on this story: Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at myamanaka@bloomberg.net.