Pending Acquisition

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2025

Acquisitions [Abstract]

Pending Acquisition

Note 2 – Pending Acquisition

    On October 20, 2025, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with CenterPoint Energy Resources Corp. (the “Seller”), pursuant to which, among other things, the Company agreed to acquire from the Seller all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, LLC (“CenterPoint Ohio”) for an aggregate purchase price of $2.62 billion, subject to customary adjustments, as provided in the Purchase Agreement. This acquisition will add significant regulated scale for the Company, doubling the size of the Company’s gas utility rate base, while expanding its operations beyond New York and Pennsylvania into the neighboring state of Ohio, a state with a constructive regulatory and political environment that is supportive of natural gas. Closing is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of calendar 2026, pending completion of a notice filing and review with the PUCO, Hart-Scott-Rodino review, and other customary closing conditions. The purchase price will include a combination of $1.42 billion in cash and a $1.2 billion promissory note to be issued by the Company to the Seller at closing. The promissory note, which was part of the Seller’s desired transaction structure and was incorporated into the Company’s business valuation, will have a maturity date of 364 days post-closing and will carry an interest rate of 6.5%. Permanent financing, inclusive of the amount to repay the promissory note, will consist of long-term debt and common equity, along with expected future free cash flow. In that regard, on December 17, 2025, the Company completed the issuance and sale, in a private placement, of 4,402,513 shares of the Company's common stock, par value $1.00 per share, at a price of $79.50 per share. After deducting placement fees, the net proceeds to the Company amounted to $338.6 million.

    In connection with its entry into the Purchase Agreement, the Company entered into a senior unsecured bridge loan facility commitment letter supported by The Toronto-Dominion Bank (“TD Bank”), New York Branch and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association (together with TD Bank, the “Commitment Parties”), as well as a 364-day term loan facility commitment letter supported by the Commitment Parties and additional banks, all of which are lenders under the Company’s primary credit facility. The combination of both facilities fully supports any portion of the purchase price that has not been permanently financed.