Canada's Fortis To Buy CH Energy For Almost $1B

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) — CH Energy says it has agreed to a buyout offer of just under $1 billion from the Canadian utility Fortis.

CH Energy is the parent company of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. It will remain a stand-alone company based in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Fortis Inc. will pay CH Energy Group Inc. shareholders $65 per share, representing an 11 percent premium over the company's Friday closing share price. CH Energy shares jumped almost 10 percent to $64.42 in premarket trading.

Based on CH Energy's 14.9 million outstanding shares, the deal is worth about $967.9 million. CH Energy valued the deal at about $1.5 billion including about $500 million in debt.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory and CH Energy shareholder approval, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.