By Rory D. Sweeney
NextEra Energy announced Friday morning that it had reached an agreement to buy cash-strapped Energy Future Holdings’ profitable Oncor assets in a deal that values the Texas transmission and delivery subsidiary at $18.4 billion.
The sale, along with a favorable tax decision also announced Friday, would move EFH closer to an exit from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which it declared in April 2014.
The deal for Oncor — Texas’ largest utility, with 119,000 miles of distribution and transmission lines and more than 3 million meters — also bolsters NextEra’s position as a player in the Texas energy market. It has been involved in Texas since 1999 through transmission provider Lone Star Transmission.
NextEra CEO Jim Robo said he plans to continue business as usual at Oncor, which he called “one of the most efficient, reliable and low-cost utilities in the nation.”
“We are incredibly impressed by Oncor’s management team and its employees, and we are committed to retaining the Oncor name, its Dallas headquarters and local management,” Robo said. “NextEra Energy shares Oncor’s strategy of making smart, long-term investments in transmission and distribution.”
Approvals Needed
The sale must be approved by both the Public Utility Commission of Texas and a federal bankruptcy court. If approved, it would divest EFH of its 80% stake in Oncor for about $14.9 billion, NextEra said. The deal would be primarily cash, along with some NextEra stock, according to an 8-K EFH filed Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The deal can be canceled if the PUCT’s approval includes any of several conditions that the agreement outlines as overly “burdensome” or if it hasn’t closed by March 26, 2017, though there is the potential for a 90-day extension.
Although EFH is allowed to seek other offers, it would be on the hook for a $275 million termination fee if the NextEra deal receives PUCT and court approval and EFH eventually sells to someone else.
Other Suitors
That creates a hurdle for other rumored Oncor suitors, including Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Fidelity Management, Edison International and Hunt Consolidated. Also interested was the investor group led by Borealis Infrastructure Management and Singapore’s GIC Special Investments that together own the other 19.75% of Oncor. (See With Oncor Back on the Market, Multiple Suitors Line Up.)
Hunt remains optimistic, releasing a statement that called the announcement “not a surprise and, as we know, is just another step in a very long process.”
“Hunt will remain involved as the process unfolds, as the advantages of maintaining ownership of Oncor by Texans for Texans are clear,” Hunt spokeswoman Jeanne Phillips said.
Hunt previously appeared to be a frontrunner for Oncor, but its bid foundered in May when the PUCT imposed conditions it said were unacceptable. Hunt has since sued to reopen the case. (See Hunt Reopens Oncor Bid in Lawsuit Against PUCT.)
Tax Liability Eliminated
EFH’s 8-K also announced a favorable ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that eliminates a potential $4 billion tax liability for its remaining assets.
EFH has proposed a separate path for its Luminant generation arm and TXU Energy retailer, selling them to senior creditors who are owed $24.4 billion. Bankruptcy court hearings on the proposed sales are scheduled to begin Aug. 17 in Delaware.
NextEra’s Other Moves
NextEra also announced on Friday that its competitive energy subsidiary, NextEra Energy Resources, is selling its interests in two Pennsylvania gas-fired generation plants to a Connecticut-based investment firm for $760 million.
Starwood Energy Group Global, which focuses on gas-fired and renewable generation, transmission and storage facilities, agreed to buy the 790-MW combined cycle Marcus Hook Energy Center and the 50-MW simple cycle Marcus Hook 50 Energy Center in Marcus Hook, Pa.
NextEra says the sale, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016, will result in net proceeds of approximately $255 million after repayment of the existing project-related financing.