Energy Future Wins Chapter 11 Plan Confirmation
February 17 2017 - 11:37AM
Dow Jones News
By Peg Brickley and Jonathan Randles
NextEra Energy Inc.'s planned acquisition of one of the
country's largest electricity transmissions businesses, Oncor,
moved to the next phase Friday, when a judge said he would confirm
the bankruptcy-exit plan of Oncor owner Energy Future Holdings
Corp.
Confirmation sets the stage for hearings before the Public
Utility Commission of Texas, which must approve the acquisition of
Oncor, a critical element of the state's power system, by NextEra,
a Florida company.
Judge Christopher Sontchi's confirmation ruling is the second
for an Energy Future bankruptcy-exit plan. An earlier chapter 11
plan built around the planned sale of Oncor to a group of investors
led by Hunt Consolidated Inc. was confirmed last year, but the deal
fell apart after Texas regulators put conditions on the
transaction.
NextEra will pay $4.4 billion in cash and stock, plus pay off
$5.4 billion in financing that helped Energy Future through
bankruptcy, to gain control of Oncor, which carries power to some
10 million Texans.
Energy Future, the former TXU Corp., filed for chapter 11
protection in April 2014 with $42 billion in debt. Most of the debt
was resolved when Energy Future's electricity generating and
retailing businesses exited bankruptcy last year as a new company
called Vistra Energy.
Parent company Energy Future remained in bankruptcy, with an 80%
stake in Oncor as its principal asset. NextEra had been trying to
buy Oncor since 2014. Two years later, NextEra was declared the
winner of a bidding contest that revived after the Hunt deal was
scrapped.
Write to Peg Brickley at peg.brickley@wsj.com and Jonathan
Randles at Jonathan.Randles@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 17, 2017 11:22 ET (16:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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