Dominion Energy to buy Scana, assume failed nuclear project costs
Dominion Energy Inc (D.N) said on Wednesday it would buy Scana Corp (SCG.N) in an all-stock deal worth about $7.9 billion, offering the utility a way to appease customers and investors angered by the cost of a failed nuclear project.
Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion will pay Scana’s customers $1.3 billion, averaging about $1,000 for each customer, and has promised to cut bills by 5 percent to appease users who have been overcharged for years as Scana funded the nuclear project.
Shares of Dominion, which will also assume Scana’s debt of $6.7 billion, were down 4 percent in after-market trading.
Dominion’s $55.35 per share offer represents a premium of 42.4 percent to Scana’s Tuesday close. South Carolina-based Scana’s shares were trading well below the offer price at $47.89, suggesting some investors were skeptical of the deal.
Scana, which owns the South Carolina Electric & Gas Co (SCE&G), has been under pressure since it scrapped the V.C. Summer nuclear project in July after spending about $9 billion on it with state-owned utility Santee Cooper.
The company received a subpoena in October from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to an investigation of the nuclear project.
Scana was funding some of the project’s costs from SCE&G, a move that angered customers and led to the utility rolling back electricity rates for residential users.
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