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AltaGas Ltd., the Canadian midstream operator that is buying Washington, D.C.-headquartered gas utility WGL Holdings Inc., is considering the sale of power plants in the U.S. to help pay for the US$6.4 billion acquisition.
The sale and other U.S. financing activities are expected to mitigate the volatility of foreign exchange rates. AltaGas has recently done C$2.8 billion in Canadian dollar-denominated equity issues to start to pay for the transaction and is hedging that cash against U.S. dollars, CFO Tim Watson said on a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter 2016 financial performance. The Calgary, Alberta-based company plans to close the sale of the U.S. assets in sequence with the closing of the WGL acquisition later this year.
"Over the past year we've had some unsolicited approaches on selected assets, which obviously is an...