Columbia Pipeline Deal With TransCanada Confirmed; $25.50/Share Value, $13B Total Value

A recent heavily-rumored deal was confirmed Thursday evening:

will be purchasing

in a $13 billion deal. Talk of a possible deal first popped up in early March when Dow Jones reported a deal between the two might total $10 billion plus. Shares of Columbia Pipeline traded up more than 16 percent amid the report. In a press release issued around 4:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, TransCanada confirmed the deal at about $13 billion in totaled, including around $2.8 billion in debt. The per-share price comes to around $25.50. The combined entity is expected to have a massive $23 billion portfolio of projects. TransCanada said it expects the deal with Columbia to be accretive to earnings during the first full year of the combo. As shares of Columbia Pipeline have traded up some 48 percent since middle February and more than 20 percent since first chatter of a possible deal, the stock has traded up a modest 5.3 percent to $24.75 in Thursday's post-market session. TransCanada shares last traded down about 4 percent to $36.50.