Boston (Platts)--18Mar2011/1031 am EDT/1431 GMT

Duke Energy Friday said it and Progress Energy received and rejected a last-minute offer from an unidentified utility holding company to buy both companies for a price as much as 15% above their current share prices.

Duke in January said it planned to acquire Progress in a deal valued at $25.8 billion.

Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion, which owns electric utilities in Virginia and North Carolina, was reported to have been interested in acquiring both Duke and Progress, but the company has refused to confirm that.

Progress Chairman, President and CEO Bill Johnson met with the CEO of the unidentified company in June 2009 to discuss a possible merger, Duke said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Johnson also discussed a possible merger with executives of a second, unidentified company in October 2009, according to the filing.

While talks between Progress and the second company did not progress, the utility's board authorized officials to continue talks with Duke and the first company.

Progress' board in July concluded that a potential combination with Duke "offered greater potential in achieving more strategic benefits" because of likely operational efficiencies. The board also determined that a combination with the first unidentified company could have more difficulty receiving regulatory approval.

But three days before Duke and Progress unveiled their merger plans, the first company contacted both Duke and Progress with an offer to acquire Duke for a price premium of 10% to 15% and Progress for a price premium of 12% to 15%. Both offers were rejected, the filing said.

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