The entire Latin American assets sale is expected to fetch $1.9 billion for the company, which will be utilized to lower its existing debt level. Expansion of Regulated Business Duke Energy's decision to sale Latin American assets was a part of the company's strategy to focus on its domestic operations. Duke's domestic regulated business was boosted by the acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. for $6.7 billion. The acquisition added 1 million natural gas customers to Duke Energy's existing customer base.