Avangrid shareholders approve $2.5bn buyout by Iberdrola
Iberdrola CEO Ignacio Galan expects transaction will position Avangrid to accelerate growth in offshore and onshore wind and solar
Avangrid on Thursday said its shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve a merger agreement with parent Iberdrola, which will acquire the remaining 18.4% of stock of the US electric grid and renewables company’s stock for $2.5bn to assume full control.
About 99% of votes cast supported the transaction which is expected to close in the fourth quarter after receiving a final regulatory approval from the New York Public Service Commission.
The acquisition, first announced in March, will result in delisting of Avangrid from trading on the New York Stock Exchange after the transaction closes.
Avangrid shareholders will receive $35.75 per share, which represents a premium of 15.2% compared to the 30-day weighted average share price of shares on the last unaffected trading day prior to the announcement.
Iberdrola said 100% ownership of Avangrid will position it to accelerate strong growth in the US where it has $46bn in assets and more than two decades operating experience.
“Avangrid will have all the necessary resources to continue growing in transmission and distribution grid networks, and also in renewable technologies, such as offshore wind,” said Ignacio Galan, executive chairman of Iberdrola.
Iberdrola asserts that Avangrid has “organic growth opportunities” totaling $30bn of investment in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York where it presently distributes electricity to seven million people.
On 1 January, Avangrid was the fifth largest onshore renewables capacity owner in the US with 8.5GW including wind (8.07GW) and solar (472MW). It had no battery storage.
Ahead in the rankings were NextEra Energy, Berkshire Hathaway, RWE, and Enel Green Power, according to American Clean Power Association, a national trade group.
Avangrid is also a 50-50 owner with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners in 800MW Vineyard Wind, the pioneering commercial-scale offshore wind project that is being installed along the Massachusetts coast.
The state recently awarded Avangrid 797MW of capacity in its most recent offshore wind tender. Lastly, the company has a lease area facing North Carolina’s coast with about 2.2GW of capacity.
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