NextEra to buy Dominion Energy in $67bn deal

(Sharecast News) - NextEra Energy said on Monday that it has agreed to buy Dominion Energy in a $67bn all-share deal that will create the world's largest regulated electric utility business by market capitalisation.

Under the terms of the transaction, Dominion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.8138 shares of NextEra Energy for each share of Dominion Energy they own at the close. This will result in NextEra Energy and Dominion shareholders owning around 74.5% and 25.5% of the combined company, respectively.

The combined group will be more than 80% regulated, serve around 10 million utility customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and own 110 gigawatts (GW) of generation across a broad mix of energy sources.

NextEra chairman, president and chief executive John Ketchum said it was a "historic" moment for the two companies and the states they serve.

"By uniting two industry leaders with 238 years of collective experience, this combination creates a stronger company for customers and a stronger long-term value proposition for shareholders," he said.

"Customers will benefit from $2.25 billion in bill credits and over time from the scale, operating and capital efficiencies this combination unlocks. They will also benefit from the shared expertise and best practices of America's leading regulated utilities, laser-focused on low customer bills, customer service, storm resiliency and reliability, making the customer experience seamless in the near term and best in class over time.

"Shareholders will benefit from a broader regulated growth runway, a larger opportunity set and a more diversified platform. This is a unique situation where we believe one plus one equals three. We are confident that our customers, the communities we serve, our shareholders and our industry-leading teams will all benefit from this combination."

At 1348 BST, shares of Dominion were up 14.4% at $70.62 in pre-market trade, while NextEra was 1.2% lower at $92.20.