A CALGARY-BASED energy company with plans to expand its already extensive holdings in the northwest has confirmed that it is in merger talks.
AltaGas responded late last week to reports that it is talking about a merger with an American company, but it not name that company.
In the northwest, the company owns natural gas utility Pacific Northern Gas, which also has holdings in the northeast, and the $1 billion package of three run-of-river power projects along the Iskut River.
Just this month it announced a final investment decision to spend more than $500 building a propane export terminal at Prince Rupert.
The rumoured merger partner is WGL Holdings which serves 1.1 million customers in the metropolitan D.C. area, primarily through a subsidiary called Washington Gas. It also generates electricity using wind turbines.
AltaGas and WGL are approximately the same size with AltaGas coming in at US$4.4 billion for market capitalization, and WGL at US$4.2 billion.
“Until such time as it is appropriate to make a public announcement on any potential transaction, should one occur, AltaGas will not comment further on this matter,” AltaGas said in a statement last week, which it issued in response to a request by the Toronto Stock Exchange.