FERC last week approved a plan by Xcel Energy to transfer all of the company’s interest in bankrupt NRG Energy to certain NRG creditors as part of a Chapter 11-related reorganization plan.

Xcel, NRG and NRG’s creditors have reached an agreement under which Xcel will transfer all of its equity interest in NRG to the creditors and make a payment of up to $752 million to NRG and its creditors as part of the reorganization.

Once NRG emerges from bankruptcy, the creditors will own all of the reorganized NRG. Because of the trading of claims in NRG’s existing securities and the prospect that some of the new securities may be reallocated among the creditors, the owners of the reorganized NRG cannot be definitively identified at this time, FERC noted in its order.

However, based on the analysis of liquidated claims, one entity, MattlinPaterson, will have an estimated equity interest of around 21%. MattlinPaterson is primarily an investment firm whose only other energy-related interest is a natural gas exploration firm not subject to FERC’s jurisdiction.

Xcel and NRG said that no other liquidated creditor has an interest in excess of 2%. The companies also noted that of the unliquidated, contingent claims, the maximum potential interest by a Federal Power Act-jurisdictional company is a claim somewhat in excess of 2% by FirstEnergy Corp.

Xcel and NRG listed some 72.5% of the total expected equity interest, but said that the rest are very small or are unknown because the information is not publicly available.

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