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US: DOJ begins antitrust review of $12.2B Westar-Great Plains deal

By  |  August 8, 2016

Westar Energy disclosed on Tuesday that its $8.6 billion proposed takeover by Great Plains Energy is being investigated by US regulators.

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    The Justice Department sent the Topeka, Kansas-based utility owner a letter in June asking for “certain documents and information,” Westar said in a filing. Westar and Great Plains, based in Kansas City, Missouri, are fully cooperating and expect their merger to be cleared of any antitrust concerns, the company said.

    The disclosure comes less than a week after the staff of Missouri’s utility commission argued that the merger should also be subject to a state review, threatening to hold up a transaction that Westar and Great Plains have been expecting to close by the middle of next year. The Justice Department has reviewed utility mergers in the past, including Duke Energy Corp.’s takeover of Progress Energy Inc. in 2012.

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