TransCanada to refile Columbia pre-merger notification with US FTC

TransCanada Corporation on Wednesday said it has withdrawn and will refile on May 6 its pre-merger notification for the planned acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group. 

In March, TransCanada revealed it has signed an agreement to purchase Columbia for US$10.2 billion in an all-cash transaction.

Including the $2.8 billion of assumed debt, the aggregate transaction value reaches $13 billion, TransCanada said in its statement.

The refiling will set a new 30-day period for review by the United States Federal Trade Commission. The procedure is commonly used by applicants to provide additional time to the commission to review the transaction.

TransCanada expects to receive the nod to close the transaction in the second half of 2016. The transaction will also have to receive the authorization by the Committee of Foreign Investment of the United States.

The acquisition of Columbia, a Houston, Texas-based company that operates an approximate 24,000-kilometre network of interstate natural gas pipelines, would enable TransCanada to invest into the growing network of assets in the Marcellus and Utica shale gas regions.

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

LNG World News Staff