McGuireWoods served as legal adviser to Dominion Energy in the pending sale of substantially all of the company’s natural gas transmission and storage business to an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway in a deal valued at $9.7 billon, including the assumption of $5.7 billion in debt.
The deal would include more than 7,700 miles of natural gas storage and transmission pipelines and about 900 billion cubic feet of gas storage that Dominion Energy currently operates. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2020. It requires Hart-Scott-Rodino clearance as well as approval from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Upon the sale, Dominion Energy expects that up to 90 percent of its future operating earnings will come from its portfolio of electric and natural gas state-regulated utility companies centered in Virginia, the Carolinas, Ohio and Utah.
Lawyers from multiple McGuireWoods offices advised Dominion on the transaction. Joanne Katsantonis, the firm’s deputy managing partner for development, led the deal team, which included Emilie McNally and Daniel Howell. Brent Justus and Andre Keels handled regulatory matters and Will Tysse advised on employee benefits issues.
“We are proud of our longstanding relationship with Dominion Energy and were pleased to assist in another major transaction that advances the company’s long-term business objectives,” Katsantonis said.
McGuireWoods previously advised Dominion Energy in its $13.4 billion merger with SCANA Corp. in 2019 and its $4.4 billion acquisition of Questar Corp. in 2016 — deals that increased the state-regulated portion of the company’s profile.
Dominion Energy serves more than 7 million customers in 20 states. It is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy, with about $100 billion of assets providing electric generation, transmission and distribution, as well as natural gas storage, transmission, distribution and import/export services.
McGuireWoods’ multidisciplinary energy team includes more than 200 lawyers who work across all sectors of the industry. The firm consistently ranks among the top law firms in highly respected league tables for M&A deals involving U.S. companies.