A Texas company is buying Vancouver-based Terasen Inc., which used to be known as B.C. Gas.
Houston-based Kinder Morgan is bidding $6.9 billion Cdn in cash, shares and debt relief for Terasen.
The board of directors of Terasen has approved the deal. And shares of Terasen Inc. shot up more than 17 per cent on Tuesday as a result of the bid.
- FROM NOV. 10, 2003: Former Crown corporation could leave B.C., NDP warns
Terasen's pipeline business with links to Alberta's oilsands region was considered its main attraction for the Texas company.
The merger will give Kinder Morgan about 64,000 kilometres of natural gas and oil pipelines, over 1.1 million natural gas customers and 9,000 employees.
The union representing more than 400 Terasen employees wants a guarantee that jobs won't be lost in B.C. in the takeover.
Andy Ross, the president of local 378 of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, is calling on the provincial government to protect the jobs – and the province's supply of natural gas.
Kinder Morgan president Park Shaper says he doesn't expect to cut jobs once his company takes over Terasen.
'It was done not for opportunities to save costs, you know, not through job reductions or anything like that, but rather because we had two companies that had similar orientations, similar strategies and great growth opportunities."
Shaper and Ross both say they hope to meet soon to discuss the takeover.
Share Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Surrey RCMP seek hit-run driver
- Police are looking for a light-coloured Chrysler with damage to the driver's front side after a pedestrian was hit in Surrey, B.C., early Sunday morning. more »
- B.C. man who scaled Everest returns home
- A Vancouver man who climbed the world's highest mountain is back home and talking about the adventure. more »
- Fort Langley restaurant damaged in fire
- A sushi restaurant in Fort Langley, B.C., was damaged in a fire early Sunday morning. more »
Top News Headlines
- Raitt closer to ending CP Rail strike
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Rail strike if necessary, after both CP Rail and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt tells CBC News she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
- Canada's Ryder Hesjedal gets boost from family
- B.C. Coast Guard Auxiliary gets new name
- Psych ward escapes worry neighbours
- B.C. man who scaled Everest returns home
- Environmental coalition pulls out of fish farm talks
- Passengers' families sue for fatal B.C. plane crash
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- Fort Langley restaurant damaged in fire
- Tsunami motorcycle heading to Harley museum
