FERC Approves Grid/KeySpan Deal

The Deal:

[The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] FERC approved British utility National Grid plc's plan to acquire KeySpan Corp., an operator of natural gas utilities in the Northeast, for $7.3 billion in a move that would create the nation's third-largest energy delivery utility.

National Grid already distributes electricity and natural gas to nearly 4 million customers in the Northeast states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. KeySpan, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., is the company's fifth U.S. acquisition and the largest natural gas distributor in the Northeast. National Grid agreed to pay $42 per share for KeySpan and assume $4.5 billion in KeySpan debt, valuing the deal at $7.3 billion.