Duke to buy Piedmont for $4.9 billion

USA

CHARLOTTE, October 26, 2015 – Duke Energy plans to acquire US distributor Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 billion, the largest US power producer announced Monday.

Duke and Piedmont are key partners in the 885-kilometre Atlantic Coast pipeline, which runs from the Marcellus shale field in Pennsylvania to North Carolina and Virginia.

Both companies expect the transaction to be completed by the end of 2016. Piedmont is currently waiting for approval from its stakeholders and from the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

A supply glut from the US shale revolution has meant that natural gas distributors such as Piedmont have experienced a reliable market. This relative stability has led to a flurry of natural gas infrastructure development.

This is not the first major acquisition of a distributing company. In August, US utility Southern Company announced that it would buy natural gas distributors AGL Resources for $8 billion.

Read our latest insights on:

• USA

Previous

Hibiscus spuds Sea Lion-1 wildcat

Next

Prospects offshore Ireland valued at $7 billion