Chesapeake’s $7.4 Billion Southwestern Takeover Delayed by FTC

(Bloomberg) -- Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s $7.4 billion takeover of Southwestern Energy Co. has been delayed until the second half of the year after antitrust regulators demanded more details from the natural gas explorers.

The transaction, which aims to create the largest US gas driller, originally envisioned closing no later than the end of June. But a Federal Trade Commission request for additional documents received this month will delay that because of a mandatory 30-day waiting period that kicks in once the request has been satisfied, Chesapeake said in a filing on Friday. 

Southwestern fell as much as 1.8% while Chesapeake was down 0.9% at 10:25 a.m. in New York trading. The companies have advanced 7% and 14%, respectively, since the deal was announced on Jan. 11, compared with the 8% rise in the S&P 500 Index.

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