National Grid selling repair unit to British company

National Grid announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to sell its U.S.-based Energy Services division to HomeServe Plc for about $30 million, including around $16 million in debt.

The division provides heating, cooling and water-heater repair services to residential customers on Long Island and throughout New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

HomeServe, like National Grid, is based in Britain.

National Grid spokesman David Graves said Wednesday that customers would not experience service disruptions as a result of the change of owners: "It shouldn't mean anything to customers; it should be seamless to them."

HomeServe said in a statement the network of repair technicians and support workers will come under the control of its U.S. subsidiary, Miami-based Home Service USA.

The acquisition is expected to be completed within six months.

Graves was unable to say how many Long Island customers and workers would be transitioned to Home Service USA.

He said the collective bargaining agreements of unionized workers would be honored by Home Service USA.

National Grid is selling the division because "it's not part of our core business," Graves said. "We want to concentrate on what we do best, which is the delivery of energy and natural gas." Energy Services is "an appliance maintenance business. It's not really part of what we do."

He declined to specify the division's annual sales but called the unit "a really small part" of the company's overall business.

HomeServe representatives could not be reached, and calls to Home Service USA weren't returned Wednesday.

In Wednesday's statement Home Service USA chief executive Jonathan King said the purchase brings "a significant increase in customers and contracts and a high-quality group" of employees. "It accelerates our growth in the United States and further establishes us as the leading provider of home-emergency solutions to utility customers, with over 1.1 million contracts," he said.