New Bid From NextEra in Energy Future Bankruptcy
NextEra Energy Inc. on Wednesday offered to buy Energy Future Holdings Corp.’s Oncor transmissions business, which is slated to be sold to an investment group led by Hunt Consolidated.
NextEra, a Florida power company, flung down the gauntlet in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., which is reviewing Energy Future’s chapter 11 exit plan. The sale of Oncor is at the heart of Energy Future’s $42 billion reorganization strategy, but the company has chosen the Hunt-led group as the buyer.
NextEra said it stands ready to purchase Oncor in a deal that would fully repay creditors of the division that owns the business. The deal would “provide Oncor with a new parent (NextEra) that has a strong balance sheet and credit rating,” court papers say.
Representatives of Hunt and the Energy Future creditors that are involved in the buyout group couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Energy Future spokesman Allan Koenig said the company is reviewing NextEra’s court filing.
A spokesman for NextEra couldn’t immediately be reached to discuss terms of the new overture, such as price.
nergy Future decided to sell Oncor to Hunt and allied creditors after an auction was called off that would have allowed NextEra to bid against Hunt and others for the rights to the regulated business, a stable, cash-producing piece of the Texas power infrastructure.
