Consol enters pact with CNX Gas holder

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Consol Energy Inc (CNX.N) said on Sunday it reached an agreement with T. Rowe Price Associates to tender shares of gas producer CNX Gas Corp CXG.N.

T. Rowe Price, on behalf of its investment advisory clients owning about 9.5 million shares of CNX Gas common stock, agreed to tender the shares at $38.25 per share in cash. That stake represents about 37 percent of the shares of CNX Gas that Consol Energy does not currently own, Consol Energy said.

Consol, one of the nation's top four coal producers, last week agreed to buy Dominion Resources Inc's (D.N) Appalachian natural gas properties for $3.48 billion in cash, giving Consol a leading position in the growing Marcellus Shale field.

Consol also had said it said it may seek to buy back the publicly traded shares it does not control of CNX Gas. Consol Energy currently owns about 83.3 percent of the 151 million shares of CNX Gas common stock outstanding.

Consol Energy has said it would start the tender offer by May 5 to acquire all of the shares of CNX Gas common stock that it does not currently own at a price of $38.25 a share in cash.

Shares of CNX closed on Friday at $30.80 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Jessica Hall)