InterNorth, in its conservative success, became a target of corporate takeovers, the most prominent being corporate raider Irwin Jacobs. InterNorth CEO Sam Segnar, in searching for a company to merge with to fend off takeover attempts as a poison pill, discovered HNG. In May 1985, Internorth acquired HNG for $2.3 billion, 40% higher than the current market price, in order to avoid the corporate takeover attempt. The combined assets of the two companies would create the second largest gas pipeline system at the time in the United States. Internorth’s north-south pipelines that served Iowa and Minnesota complemented HNG’s Florida and California east-west pipelines well.