RAPID CITY, S.D., — Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH) today announced it has completed the $940 million cash purchase of five Aquila Inc. utilities in four states. Black Hills acquired Aquila's electric utility in Colorado and Aquila's four natural gas utilities in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. The $940 million purchase price, subject to final closing adjustments, was financed through a $380 million borrowing on the company's $1 billion acquisition facility and cash proceeds from the July 11 sale of seven independent power production facilities as further outlined below. In order to prepare to serve more than 600,000 additional customers, Black Hills hired approximately 200 new employees in Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. Approximately 1,050 current Aquila employees from the five utilities join Black Hills, bringing the total company's number of employees to 2,200. "This acquisition is an important milestone in our strategic plan," said David R.