Enbridge to Buy Spectra Energy in $28B Deal

Enbridge, Canada's largest pipeline company, said on Tuesday it would buy Spectra Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about C$37 billion ($28 billion) to create the largest North American energy infrastructure company.

Spectra Energy shareholders will get 0.984 shares of the combined company for each share of Spectra Energy held. This is equivalent to $40.33 per share, representing a premium of about 11.5 percent to Spectra's closing price on Friday.

Spectra Energy shares were up 5.8 percent at $38.25 in light premarket trading. Enbridge, whose U.S.-listed shares were untraded, closed at $40.99 on Friday.

After the deal, which has a pro-forma enterprise value of C$165 billion, Enbridge shareholders will own about 57 percent of the combined company and Spectra shareholders about 43 percent.

Enbridge has been steadily expanding its North American pipeline network, which carries the bulk of Canadian crude oil exports to the United States.

Houston-based Spectra, which operates in both Canada and the United States, has 21,000 miles of natural gas and crude oil pipelines and about 300 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage and 4.8 million barrels of crude oil storage.

Last month, Enbridge acquired a minority stake in the Bakken Pipeline system through a joint venture. It also won the auction for a stake in EnBW's Hohe See, one of Europe's largest offshore wind power projects, according to a source familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)