NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The fairness of the
proposed acquisition of Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. ("PNY" or the
"Company") by Duke Energy Corp. ("Duke") is the subject of an investigation by
WeissLaw LLP, a national class action, shareholder rights law firm.
The investigation is focusing on possible breaches of
fiduciary duty and other violations of law by the Board of
Directors of PNY for agreeing to sell the Company to Duke. On
October 26, 2015, the Company
announced it had reached a definitive agreement for Duke to acquire all outstanding shares of PNY in a
transaction valued at approximately $6.7
billion, inclusive of debt. Under the terms of the
agreement, PNY shareholders will receive $60 in cash for each PNY share they
own.
WeissLaw is investigating whether PNY's Board acted to maximize
shareholder value prior to entering into the agreement.
Notably, the acquisition of PNY increases Duke's stake in Atlantic Coast Pipeline to 50%,
making Duke the pipeline's largest
stakeholder. Additionally, the transaction will triple the
scope of Duke's existing natural gas
LDC operations, which currently serve approximately 500,000
customers. Finally, the acquisition will increase
Duke's forecasted earnings per share
growth rate of 4%- 6%.
Given these facts, WeissLaw is investigating whether PNY's Board
acted in the best interests of PNY's public shareholders by
actively shopping the Company to maximize shareholder value prior
to entering into the agreement with Duke. If you own PNY
shares and would like more information about your rights or our
investigation, or if you have information to share with us, please
contact Joshua Rubin or Kelly Keenan by telephone at (888) 593-4771
or by email at stockinfo@weisslawllp.com.
WeissLaw LLP has litigated hundreds of stockholder class and
derivative actions for violations of corporate and fiduciary
duties. We have recovered over a billion dollars for
defrauded clients and obtained important corporate governance
relief in many of these cases. If you have information or
would like legal advice concerning possible corporate wrongdoing
(including insider trading, waste of corporate assets, accounting
fraud, or materially misleading information), consumer fraud
(including false advertising, defective products, or other
deceptive business practices), or anti-trust violations, please
email us at stockinfo@weisslawllp.com or fill out the form
on our website,
http://www.weisslawllp.com/contact/report_fraud/.
Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a
similar outcome.
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SOURCE WeissLaw LLP