Duke Energy to Buy Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 Billion Cash

CNBC reported that Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) will be acquiring Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE:PNY) for $4.9 billion in cash.
As quoted in the market news:

Duke offered $60 in cash for each Piedmont share, representing a premium of about 42 percent premium to the stock’s Friday close.
Piedmont’s shares were trading up 8.5 percent at $45.81 in light volumes premarket on Monday.
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 at time when demand for electricity is weakening due to increased energy efficiency.
U.S. power producer Southern Co. said in August it would buy AGL Resources for about $8 billion in cash.

Click here to read the full CNBC report.