Heavy merger activity is impacting the wholesale energymarketing segment, causing several of the top-20 marketers of 1998to exit the market, and spurring other companies to acquire assetsand start online trading, a new study has found.
Mania
Articles from Mania
The Merge Surge Continues: UtiliCorp Buys St. Joseph L&P
UtiliCorp joined the merger-mania Friday as it announced plans to acquire St. Joseph Light &Power in Missouri for $190.6 million. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors for both companies but still needs approval from Light &Power shareholders and state and regulatory officials. Both companies expect the deal to close in 2000.
Merger Mania Resurfaces with Sempra-KNE, Dominion-CNG Combos
Industry merger and acquisition activity last week was a wholesale confirmation of two major trends: the convergence of gas and electricity operations, and consolidation. Two more of the nation’s largest diversified gas pipeline companies were snatched up by two major energy distributors. Sempra Energy (SRE) announced it is buying KN Energy (KNE) in a stock-and-cash transaction valued in the aggregate at $6 billion, a 24% premium to KNE’s recent stock price, and Dominion Resources said it is buying Consolidated Natural Gas Co. (CNG) for about $6.3 billion in stock, a 25% premium (see related story this issue).
Merger Mania May Run Rampant Again
Beyond the currently tumultuous financing markets and depressedcommodity prices there is a good deal of potential energy in themergers and acquisitions arena, according to Eric Mullins, vicepresident of Goldman Sachs.
Municipals, Co-ops Petition for Temporary Merger Ban
In an attempt to put the brakes on the on-going merger mania,two trade groups of consumer-owned electric utilities petitionedFERC Monday to impose a two-year moratorium on marriages betweenand among large power utilities.