Dominion wins nod for $7.9bn Scana takeover

Bloomberg

Dominion Energy Inc.’s $7.9 billion takeover of a troubled South Carolina utility was approved by state regulators, clearing way for a deal that nearly collapsed over costs from a failed
nuclear project.
The unanimous vote comes nearly a year after Dominion proposed buying Scana Corp, which spent about $4.9 billion to expand the V.C. Summer nuclear plant then walked away when costs soared. Scana shares rose after the vote, closing up 6.3 percent. Dominion rose 1.1 percent.
The proposed takeover is North America’s largest pending utility deal. Debate over it dragged on for months in courtrooms and at the South Carolina statehouse. The key question for the state Public Service Commission was whether Dominion’s bid includes a generous enough rate cut to compensate Scana customers for being billed for reactors that will never produce a megawatt of power.
“They pretty much cleared the path for the acquisition,” said Paul Patterson, an analyst at Glenrock Associates. “The commission obviously didn’t want to deviate much from terms they thought were acceptable.”