Privately held liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal developer NextDecade LLC and Harmony Merger Corp. have agreed to a previously announced reverse merger that would take NextDecade public. Assuming no redemptions by Harmony stockholders, the all-stock transaction is expected to yield a combined entity with an enterprise value of more than $1 billion, with up to an additional $200 million of contingent stock consideration to be paid to NextDecade’s members when certain milestones are achieved. Closing is expected late in the second quarter. “We believe a transaction with Harmony will strengthen our ability to bring competitively priced, U.S.-produced LNG to the world market in the early part of the next decade,” said NextDecade CEO Kathleen Eisbrenner. NextDecade principal equity holders include funds managed by York Capital Management, Valinor Management, and Halcyon Capital Management, which together own a majority interest.

Citizens Energy Group, a utility serving about 800,000 people in the Indianapolis area, reported a failure at one of its natural gas storage wells Wednesday in the Worthington, IN, area. Seven homes were evacuated as a result of the issue, but no injuries or property damage were reported, Citizens spokesman Dan Considine told NGI. The failure also forced the closure of a nearby stretch of highway and shut down nearby electrical lines, leaving around 50 customers without power, he said. Citizens was in the process of venting the remaining gas to conduct repairs, he said. Considine did not specify the exact volume of gas being stored in the well but said the failure would not affect the utility’s other operations.