NextEra Energy is seeking to acquire Dominion Energy in an all-stock deal valued at about $67 billion, creating a massive power company as the energy needs of artificial intelligence drive demand higher in the U.S.
It is one of the biggest proposed mergers so far this year and would create the world’s biggest regulated electric utility business by market capitalization, the companies said on Monday.
The combined company will serve approximately 10 million utility customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Dominion, based in Richmond, Virginia, helps to power hundreds of data centers across the state. It also provides regulated electricity service to 3.6 million homes and businesses in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and regulated natural gas service to 500,000 customers in South Carolina.
Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra owns Florida Power & Light Company, which provides electricity to about 12 million people across the state. In December NextEra and Google Cloud announced that they were expanding their existing partnership to build new data center campuses across the U.S.
The potential tie-up of the two companies comes at a time when consumers worried about escalating electric bills are pushing back against AI data centers. Some governors, attorneys general and others protesting rising electricity bills say cash-strapped residents are stuck in a broken system.
Officials and lawmakers in at least six states — including Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania — are going to new lengths to try to block rate increases proposed by utilities. Some are pressing utilities to completely change their model for financing major system upgrades.
Dominion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.8138 shares of NextEra Energy for each share of Dominion that they own. Dominion stockholders will continue to receive Dominion’s current quarterly dividend through closing, plus a one-time cash payment of $360 million at closing.
NextEra's stockholders will own 74.5% of the combined business, while Dominion's stockholders will own 25.5%.
NextEra CEO John Ketchum will serve as chairman and CEO of the combined company..
"We are bringing NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy together because scale matters more than ever— not for the sake of size, but because scale translates into capital and operating efficiencies. It enables us to buy, build, finance and operate more efficiently, which translates into more affordable electricity for our customers in the long run," Ketchum said in a statement.
The combined company will have dual headquarters in Juno Beach, Florida, and Richmond, Virginia. It will also keep Dominion Energy South Carolina’s existing operational headquarters in Cayce, South Carolina.
The business will use NextEra’s name and trade under its “NEE” ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. Its board of directors will include 10 directors from NextEra and four from Dominion.
The deal, which was approved by both companies' boards, is expected to close in 12 to 18 months. It still needs approval from NextEra and Dominion shareholders, as well as various regulatory approvals, including approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Shares of Dominion jumped more 9.61% in morning trading, while NextEra's stock fell 5%.
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