OTTAWA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Enbridge Inc. announced Tuesday that it will acquire three U.S. gas utilities for 14 billion U.S. dollars to form the largest gas utility business in North America.
The company said it has entered into three separate definitive agreements with Dominion Energy to acquire the East Ohio Gas Company, Questar Gas Company and the Public Service Company of North Carolina.
The Calgary-based energy infrastructure giant said that the aggregate purchase price comprises 9.4 billion U.S. dollars of cash consideration and 4.6 billion U.S. dollars of assumed debt.
Upon the closings of the three transactions expected in 2024, Enbridge will add gas utility operations in Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, representing a significant presence in the U.S. utility sector, the company said.
Enbridge's gas utility business will be the largest by volume in North America with a combined rate base of over 27 billion Canadian dollars (20 billion U.S. dollars) and about 7,000 employees delivering over 9 Bcf/d of gas to approximately 7 million customers, the company added.
In a separate announcement, the company said it has agreed with a syndicate of underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets and Morgan Stanley to sell 89,490,000 common shares for aggregate gross proceeds of 3 billion U.S. dollars to finance a portion of the cash consideration payable by it for the three transactions.
Enbridge has also obtained debt financing commitments totaling 9.4 billion U.S. dollars from Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada for the cash consideration component to further demonstrate liquidity and the financing capacity to close the transactions, the company said. ■