An affiliate of Energy Future Holdings of Dallas announced today it is buying two Texas natural-gas power plants from a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC.
Luminant, the Energy Future affiliate, will purchase the ownership interest from La Frontera Ventures LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy for $1.59 billion.
Energy Future Holdings is currently in bankruptcy, but the company said the court and creditor groups have approved the sale.
The transaction includes the 1,912-megawatt (MW) Forney Energy Center, a natural gas-fired facility located in Forney, that began commercial operation in 2003 and the 1,076-MW Lamar Energy Center, a natural gas-fired facility located in Paris, Texas, that began commercial operation in 2000.
“This transaction enables us to further optimize our power generation assets and is consistent with our strategy of reducing our merchant exposure while recycling capital into our growing long-term contracted asset portfolio,” said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources.
A NextEra Energy Resources’ affiliate will continue to operate both of the facilities included in the sale for up to one year. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016. NextEra Energy Resources is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE).
Citi is serving as financial advisor to NextEra Energy Resources, and Hogan Lovells is legal counsel.
Here’s the Associated Press story:
DALLAS (AP) — Luminant, one of the biggest electric power generators in Texas, has agreed to buy two East Texas electric power plants from NextEra for $1.3 billion.
The acquisition of the Forney Energy Center east of Dallas and the Lamar Energy Center in Paris would add almost 3,000 megawatts of generating capacity to the Luminant system. Luminant already has more than 13,700 of generating capacity in Texas.
The acquisition is expected to close next spring, pending regulatory approvals.
Luminant is owned by the Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings Corp., which is presently in bankruptcy proceedings. The Luminant statement says the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and company creditors have approved the acquisition.