Story by The Wall Street Journal

Exelon Corp. on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to buying Pepco Holdings Inc.,after utility regulators for the District of Columbia rejected the $6.8 billion deal last week.

“We believe our merger proposal is in the public interest, and we will continue working to complete the merger, which all other jurisdictions have approved,” the companies said in a joint news release.

The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, where Pepco is based, was the last regulatory body whose approval was needed for the deal to be completed. Commissioners said they didn’t like the proposed management structure of the new company, which they said would diminish Pepco’s influence and make their job of regulating the utility more difficult.

The companies can ask the commission to reconsider its decision, but didn’t specify in Monday’s statement if they plan to do so. Representatives for both companies didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The companies had hoped to complete their merger by September. It was originally announced in April 2014.


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