ENERGY

Mesa Close to Ending Talks on Deal: The natural gas producer said it is in the final round of negotiations with bidders interested in buying assets or structuring a deal that would infuse cash into the debt-laden company. After fielding interest from more than 100 companies last year for assets that include producing gas fields in the massive Hugoton, Kan., basin, Irving, Texas-based Mesa Inc. and its investment banker are negotiating with a final group of three, said Chairman T. Boone Pickens, who declined to identify the bidders. The transactions being negotiated do not include an outright sale or merger of the entire company, a spokesman said.