Petronas to Buy Progress Energy for $4.67B

Malaysian state oil company Petronas will buy joint venture partner Progress Energy Resources Corp for C$4.80 billion ($4.67 billion) to gain full ownership of large swathes of natural gas fields in Canada.

Petronas will pay C$20.45 per share, a premium of 77 percent to Progress Energy's Wednesday close.

Including debt, the transaction is valued at about C$5.5 billion, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

Calgary-based Progress owns unconventional shale fields in northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta.

Petronas last year bought a stake in a shale gas field in Canada for $1.1 billion from Progress Energy. ($1 = 1.0261 Canadian dollars)