Duke Energy Corp, the largest U.S. power company by generation capacity, said on Monday it would purchase Piedmont Natural Gas Co for $4.9 billion in cash, helping expand its natural gas distribution business.Duke offered $60 in cash for each Piedmont share, representing a premium of about 42 percent premium to the stock's Friday close. A glut of supply from shale fields has ensured relatively stable pricing for natural gas distributors such as Piedmont.This has prompted a number of U.S. power producers to boost their natural gas infrastructure and lower dependence on power generation as demand for electricity weakens due to increased energy efficiency.
Duke Energy Corporation is an energy company. Duke Energy conducts its operations in three business segments: Regulated Utilities, International Energy and Commercial Power. Shares of DUK fell by 1.76% or $-1.32/share to $73.74. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $67.27 and as high as $89.97. On average, 3289860 shares of DUK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2055040.
Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. is an energy services company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas to over one million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by municipalities who are the Company's wholesale customers. Shares of PNY fell by 1.42% or $-0.61/share to $42.22. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $34.95 and as high as $43.03. On average, 369848 shares of PNY exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 268398.
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