Equitable Resources Inc. is extending its stalled deal to buy local competitor Dominion Peoples Gas and a West Virginia subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc.
Either party could have dropped out after June 30 under terms of the March 2006 sales agreement, but North Shore-based Equitable said this morning in a securities filing it that it will continue to work with Richmond-based Dominon and won't terminate the deal before Sept. 1.
The extension calls for discussions to change the sales agreement -- allowing Equitable to buy Dominion Peoples before Dominion Hope the West Virginia company -- if an injunction that the Federal Trade Commission obtained is lifted. The original agreement called for the two companies to be sold at the same time, for $970 million.
The FTC considers Equitable's acquisition of Dominion Peoples a threat to competition in the Pittsburgh area, and has delayed it with a lawsuit now before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is scheduled for a hearing in late September.
Pennsylvania's Public Utility Commission already has approved the Dominion Peoples acquisition, which would create the largest gas distribution company in the state with more than 600,000 customers.
Because of this, "we will extend the termination date option until Nov. 1, if we are able to reach an agreement to close the sale of Dominion Peoples before closing the sale of Dominion Hope," Equitable spokesman Pat Kornick said in a statement.
The Dominion Hope acquisition still is undergoing regulatory reviews in that state.
