BUZZ-Aqua America dips after launching $1.7 bln dual financing to fund gas utility buy

** Water utility Aqua America Inc’s stock down 3% to $35.66 as co looks to raise equity to fund its acquisition of Peoples Natural Gas

** Aqua commences concurrent $1 bln common stock and $725 mln 3-yr tangible equity unit (TEU) offerings

** Co could raise nearly $2 bln if full overallotment options are exercised for both offerings

** Goldman, RBC, BofA-ML, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo acting as joint bookrunners for common offering; same group leading TEU offering, but with RBC as lead-left bookrunner

** Offerings scheduled to price Weds AMC

** TEU’s being marketed with 6.0%-6.5% coupon, 17.5%-22.5% convertible premium, according to equity capital markets source

** Aqua in Oct first announced its all-cash $4.3 bln buy of privately-owned Peoples, saying it would issue $2.2-$2.5 bln of new equity toward the purchase

** On Mar 29, Aqua said received $750 mln investment from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to help finance Peoples acquisition; CPPIB to buy 21.7 mln newly issued WTR shares through the investment

** With today’s move, WTR shares off ~7% from $37.88 last sale price on Oct 22, session just prior to acquisition announcement. But stock up ~11% from 1-yr lows hit in Nov