UPDATE 1-Duke Energy buys wind company for $240 mln

(Adds amount of debt, background and share price)

NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp (DUK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it bought wind energy company Catamount Energy Corp from private equity firm Diamond Castle Holdings for about $240 million.

Catamount has about 300 megawatts of renewable energy in operation, as well as about 1,750 megawatts of development interest in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Duke said the deal price does not include $80 million of assumed debt.

Duke bought Tierra Energy, a leading wind developer in Texas, in May 2007.

It said that combining Catamount with Tierra will result in an entity with more than 5,000 megawatts of wind energy under development in 12 states and about 500 megawatts of operating assets by the end of 2008.

Shares of Duke fell 42 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $17.32 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. (Reporting by Michael Erman, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Phil Berlowitz)