UPDATE 2-Progress Energy to buy some Suncor assets for C$390 mln

* Says to buy assets in BC Foothills

* To raise C$600 mln via pvt placement, bought deal

* Sees 2010 average production of 40,000 to 42,000 boe/day

* Sees '10 production about 40 pct higher than '09

* Plans to invest about C$350 million in 2010 (Adds details, analyst comments)

By Koustav Samanta

BANGALORE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Canada's Progress Energy Resources Corp (PRQ.TO) agreed to acquire certain northeast British Columbia Foothills assets for about C$390 million ($366.2 million) from Suncor Energy (SU.TO) to expand its stronghold in the region.

Progress Energy said the assets being bought are immediately adjacent to Progress' producing assets in Town, Bubbles and Blueberry/Beg areas.

"We have long viewed these assets as high quality legacy properties with significant conventional and unconventional upside potential," Progress Chief Executive Michael Culbert said in a statement.

"The acquisition of the assets is going to help Progress because they are reasonably priced assets and they offer a lot of options value upside in the Montney shale fairway," FirstEnergy Capital analyst Cody Kwong told Reuters.

Progress Energy said it will invest about C$350 million to follow up on its drilling success in the Foothills of northeast British Columbia and the Deep Basin of northwest Alberta.

Analyst Kwong, who has an "outperform" rating on Progress' stock, said the company's primary focus should be the Deep Basin multi-zone gas and the Montney shale program in the northeast British Columbia Foothills.

The acquisition and a part of its 2010 capital program will be funded through a C$350 million subscription receipt private placement and a concurrent C$250 million subscription receipt bought deal public financing, the company said in a statement.

It is positioned to invest as much as C$500 million in 2011 to achieve ongoing production growth, Progress said.

Progress expects 2010 average production of 40,000 to 42,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day and exit the year in the range of 45,000 to 46,500 boe per day, about 40 percent higher from the exit rate of about 33,100 boe per day in 2009.

Separately, Suncor said it plans to divest a number of non-core assets, including certain natural gas assets in Western Canada and the U.S. Rockies, as part of its strategic business alignment.

All its Trinidad and Tobago assets and certain non-core North Sea assets, including all assets in the Netherlands are also part of the plan, it said.

Shares of the Calgary, Alberta-based Progress Energy closed at C$13.00 Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ($1=1.065 Canadian Dollar) (Reporting by Koustav Samanta; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)