Duke Energy to acquire Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 billion in cash
CHARLOTTE -- Duke Energy announced Monday it has agreed to buy Piedmont Natural Gas for approximately $4.9 billion in cash.
"We look forward to welcoming Piedmont's employees and one million customers in the Carolinas and Tennessee to Duke Energy," said Lynn Good, president and CEO of Duke Energy in a press release. "This combination provides us with a growing natural gas platform, benefitting our customers, communities and investors."
According to Duke Energy, the company will also assume approximately $1.8 billion in Piedmont Natural Gas existing net debt, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $6.7 billion.
Completion of the deal is slated for the end of 2016. The companies will continue to operate as separate entities until the transaction is completed.
Duke Energy will add one member of Piedmont's board of directors to its board after the transaction is closed. An existing member of Piedmont's management team will lead Duke Energy's natural gas operations in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky, and report to Good.
Piedmont Natural Gas will retain its name, operate as a business unit of Duke Energy and maintain its headquarters in Southeast Charlotte.
Piedmont Natural Gas began operations in 1951 in Charlotte and Duke Energy was founded in the city in 1904.
Duke Energy and Piedmont are key partners in the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline that will be the first major natural gas pipeline to serve Eastern North Carolina.
