TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) today announced it has entered into an agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which it will acquire Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. (NYSE:CPGX or Columbia), a Houston, Texas-based company that operates an approximate 24,000-kilometre (km) (15,000-mile) network of interstate natural gas pipelines extending from New York to the Gulf of Mexico, with a significant presence in the Appalachia production basin.