Columbia shareholders approve TransCanada merger

TransCanada Corporation said that Columbia Pipeline Group shareholders on Wednesday voted in favor of adopting the merger agreement signed in March.

According to the company’s statement, 95.33 percent of the votes cast by Columbia stockholders were in favor of the adoption of the agreement.

With the approval, TransCanada will acquire Columbia for US$25.50 per share of common stock in cash, resulting in an aggregate purchase price of approximately $13 billion, including the assumption of approximately US$2.8 billion of debt. The approval is the final major closing condition for the proposed acquisition.

Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer noted that the support of Columbia’s stockholders brings the acquisition closer to completion.

Columbia Pipeline Group is a Houston, Texas-based company that operates an approximate 24,000-kilometre network of interstate natural gas pipelines extending from New York to the Gulf of Mexico.

“This acquisition provides TransCanada with a unique opportunity to invest in a proven, growth focused company with a competitively positioned and growing network of regulated natural gas pipelines and storage assets in the Appalachian region, the fastest growing production basin in North America,” added Girling.

TransCanada is currently developing several pipeline projects to bring shale gas to proposed LNG terminals located on the Canadian Pacific coast.

The acquisition of Columbia’s assets would also enable TransCanada to transport shale gas to LNG terminals for export to international markets.

TransCanada and Columbia anticipate that the closing of the transaction will be effective on July 1, 2016.