EQT EQT Corporation

By Dean Seal

EQT Corp. said Friday that antitrust regulators have asked for more information about its plans to buy upstream assets from THQ Appalachia I LLC and THQ-XcL Holdings I LLC, potentially delaying finalization of the deal.

The natural gas producer said in a securities filing that it will furnish additional information and documentary materials to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice related to the acquisition announced back in September.

The issuance of the request extends the 30-day waiting period, established under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, that federal antitrust regulators have to challenge a merger. The window is extended until 30 days after both EQT and THQ have substantially complied with the regulators' request, unless the FTC chooses to close the window sooner.

EQT said it plans to respond to the request and work cooperatively with the FTC in its review. Because the deal cannot close while the waiting period is still in effect, EQT and THQ are in discussions about potentially pushing their agreed-upon outside date, or the date at which either side would be allowed to walk away from the deal without penalties, back from Dec. 30.

The proposed deal would provide EQT with 11 years of inventory at maintenance capital levels and "95-miles of owned and operated midstream gathering systems connected to every major long-haul interstate pipeline in southwest Appalachia," the company said in September.

EQT shares slipped 1.2% to $41 in premarket trading.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 02, 2022 08:01 ET (13:01 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.