Halifax-based Emera Inc. EMA-T is bidding to build a national champion in the utility sector by merging with Calgary natural gas and electricity infrastructure owner Canadian Utilities Ltd. CU-T and parent ATCO Ltd. ACO-X-T in $35-billion union.

Emera, formerly a Nova Scotia Crown corporation, announced a friendly all-stock offer for Alberta peers controlled by the Southern family that would create one of the 20 largest utilities in North America. The combined companies would have an enterprise value – their debt plus equity – of $72-billion, which their executives said would rank as the largest merger in Canadian history.

“Our goal is to create a Canadian champion,” said Scott Balfour, Emera’s chief executive officer, in an interview. He said the merger will create a company with the scale and financial strength needed to build networks that support projects such as data centres, new natural gas pipelines and integrated provincial electrical grids.

“Natural gas and electrical infrastructure define our industrial policy, and will power our future,” said Nancy Southern, chair and chief executive officer at ATCO. She said the combined companies will be better positioned to serve power-hungry markets such as Alberta and expand into underserved regions such as northern Canada.