Snubbing calls to quash the deal by activist investor Carl Icahn, Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. has offered to pay Dominion Energy Inc. nearly $2 billion for Questar Pipeline LLC, which includes a bundle of Rocky Mountain natural gas transmission assets.

The Las Vegas holding company purchases, distributes and transports natural gas to more than two million customers in Arizona, California and Nevada. Acquiring the 2,160-mile Questar interstate system would expand transport and storage opportunities in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming via the Overthrust Pipeline, White River Hub and Questar Field Services. 

Southwest Gas CEO John P Hester called the transaction a “milestone moment” that would diversify the business with “consistent rate-regulated cash flow.”

Questar...