Southwest Gas Defends Planned Acquisition in Letter to Icahn

By Matt Grossman

Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. Wednesday published a letter to investor Carl Icahn that defended the company's plans to buy Questar Pipeline Co., a week after Mr. Icahn told the company it should abandon the acquisition.

Mr. Icahn last week said that he had taken a stake in Southwest, a Nevada-based utility, and that he opposed its planned deal for Questar. The deal, which would be worth nearly $2 billion, is overpriced and would distract Southwest from existing challenges, Mr. Icahn had said.

In its response Wednesday, Southwest said that the deal to buy Questar from Dominion Energy Inc. is priced fairly and would contribute to Southwest's earnings starting next year.

Pushing back against other criticisms that Mr. Icahn leveled, Southwest said its returns to investors have been solid in the context of its operating environment. The company also defended its management practices, asserting that pay for executives is well aligned with investors' interests and that board oversight is strong.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 13, 2021 06:43 ET (10:43 GMT)

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