Dive Brief:
- Cleco has agreed to be acquired by an infrastructure investor group led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation.
- Under the terms of the deal, the group will buy Cleco at $55.37 per share, 15% over the company's closing price of $48.27 per share on October 17, 2014. The acquisition price values the Louisiana utility at about $4.7 billion.
- Cleco Power, Cleco's regulated utility, will "remain independently operated by local management" at its headquarters in Pineville, Louisiana.
Dive Insight:
The agreed-upon acquisition still needs to go through several rings of regulatory approvals before all is said and done. That includes the approval of Cleco shareholders, the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and an antitrust review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Cleco expects the acquisition to be finalized in the second half of 2015.
After the deal closes, Darren Olagues, president at Cleco Power and former CFO at Cleco, will succeed Bruce Williamson as president and CEO of the company.
"A well-run utility like Cleco, operating in an environment in which our experience and expertise can help drive additional growth, represents a very good opportunity for our investors," said Chris Leslie, CEO of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners III, an investment fund managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
Cleco serves 284,000 electric customers through its retail operations in Louisiana; the utility also provides wholesale electricity in Louisiana and Mississippi.
