Blog Exposure – NextEra Acquires Several Florida-based Energy Assets From Southern Company

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 23, 2018 / If you want access to our free research report on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) (“NextEra”), all you need to do is sign up now by clicking the following link www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=NEE as the Company’s latest news hit the wire. On May 21, 2018, the Company announced that it has signed an agreement with Southern Company (NYSE: SO) to acquire several of its assets. The acquisitions include Gulf Power Co., Florida City Gas, as well as Southern Company’s stake in natural-gas plants – Plant Oleander and Plant Stanton. NextEra is expected to pay a total cash consideration of approximately $6.475 billion, including debts of Gulf Power valued at approximately $1.4 billion. Register today and get access to over 1,000 Free Research Reports by joining our site below:

www.active-investors.com/registration-sg

Active-Investors.com is focused on giving you timely information and the inside line on companies that matter to you. This morning, NextEra Energy and The Southernmost recent news is on our radar and our team decided to put out a fantastic report on the company that is now available for free below:

www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=NEE

www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=SO

Commenting on the acquisitions, Jim Robo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NextEra, said:

“These transactions will provide meaningful benefits for the state of Florida, and Gulf Power and Florida City Gas customers, as well as NextEra Energy shareholders. Importantly, these transactions are consistent with our long-standing, disciplined approach of maintaining the strength of our balance sheet and credit ratings, both of which are among the strongest in the industry.”

Thomas A. Fanning, Chairman, President, and CEO of Southern Company, stated:

“This sale provides Southern Company the opportunity to deliver great value to our organization, bolster our financial profile, and continue to build the future of energy as one of America’s premier energy Companies.”

Details of the Acquisition

The assets acquired by NextEra from Southern Company include:

Gulf Power, which is an electric utility that serves eight counties across northwest Florida. It has approximately 450,000 customers and around 9,500 miles of power lines. The utility has the electric power generation capacity of 2,300 megawatts (MW).
Florida City Gas, which is a leading natural gas provider serving residential and commercial customers across Florida’s Miami-Dade, Brevard, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties. The Company has approximately 110,000 customers and natural gas pipelines of around 3,700 miles.
Plant Oleander, which is a natural-gas-fueled, simple-cycle combustion turbine electric generation plant located near Cocoa, Florida, where Southern Company owns 100% interest. The natural-gas plant has a generating capacity of 791 MW. It has long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the Florida Municipal Power Agency and Seminole Electric Cooperative.
Stanton Energy Center, which is a combined-cycle electric generating unit near Orlando, Florida, where Southern Company has a 65% ownership. The plant has a generating capacity of approximately 660 MW. Southern Company has contracted to sell its portion of generated power to the Orlando Utilities Commission and Florida Municipal Power Agency.

NextEra needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to complete the acquisition of Gulf Power and acquire Southern Company’s interest in Plant Oleander and Plant Stanton. The acquisition of Florida City Gas is subject to Southern Company’s ability to complete the previously announced divestment of Elizabethtown Gas and Elkton Gas divisions of Southern Company Gas. The acquisitions are also subject to expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Southern Company had announced the divestment of both these divisions in October 2017 to South Jersey Industries in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $1.7 billion. Taking into consideration the above, NextEra expects that the acquisition of Florida City Gas will close in Q3 2018, while the acquisition of Gulf Power and the two natural-gas plants will close in H1 2019 subject to getting regulatory approvals and fulfillment of other closing conditions.

Southern Company’s decision to divest the above assets is aimed at reducing debts, increasing financial flexibility, unlocking value for shareholders, and raising significant additional capital for strategic acquisitions.

Benefits of the Deal

NextEra expects the acquisition to be accretive to its earnings immediately on the close of the deal. The Company expects that the deal would be accretive to its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by $0.15 in FY20 and by $0.20 in FY21. Based on this, the Company expects that its adjusted EPS guidance will be in the range of $8.70 to $9.20 for FY20 and in the band of $9.40 to $9.95 for FY21, once the deal is completed.

NextEra plans to issue fresh debt of approximately $5.1 billion for financing the acquisition. The Company expects to maintain strong investment grade credit even after the completion of the acquisitions. The Company also expects to continue maintaining financial liquidity in the range of $5 billion to $7 billion.

The acquisitions are expected to expand NextEra’s Florida-based energy assets while simultaneously generating long-term shareholder value with a strong financial profile, greater scale, and an expanded platform for growth.

NextEra plans to replicate its track record, operations strategy, and success story of Florida Power & Light Company and with the new acquisitions Gulf Power and Florida City Gas. The Company plans to make smart infrastructure investments at Gulf Power and Florida City Gas, which would further the Company’s agenda of providing affordable, reliable, and clean energy to over 600,000 combined customers of these utilities. The Company plans to continue its tradition of providing low bills, clean energy, high reliability, and outstanding customer service to these new customers.

About Southern Company

Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern Company is a premier energy organization in the US that provides clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy. It has a generating capacity of 46,000 megawatts, 1,500 billion cubic feet of combined natural gas consumption, and throughput volume that caters to the energy needs of over 9 million customers. Southern Company is building the future of energy by developing the full portfolio of energy resources, including carbon-free nuclear, advanced carbon capture technologies, natural gas, renewables, energy efficiency, and storage technology.

About NextEra Energy Inc.

Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra is a leading clean energy firm and one of the largest utility Company in the world. It has a net generating capacity of 46,790 megawatts. The Company’s principal subsidiaries are Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC. The Company, through its subsidiaries, generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Stock Performance Snapshot

May 22, 2018 – At Tuesday’s closing bell, NextEra Energy’s stock marginally declined 0.49%, ending the trading session at $159.43.

Volume traded for the day: 1.63 million shares.

Stock performance in the last three-month – up 5.05%; previous six-month period – up 2.17%; past twelve-month period – up 15.24%; and year-to-date – up 2.07%

After yesterday’s close, NextEra Energy’s market cap was at $75.15 billion.

Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio was at 12.84.

The stock has a dividend yield of 2.78%.

The stock is part of the Utilities sector, categorized under the Electric Utilities industry. This sector was up 0.4% at the end of the session.

Active-Investors:

Active-Investors (A-I) produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles, stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and Canadian stocks. A-I has two distinct and independent departments. One department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment newsletters, articles, and reports covering listed stocks and micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of procedures detailed below.

A-I has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.

PRESS RELEASE PROCEDURES:

The non-sponsored content contained herein has been prepared by a writer (the “Author”) and is fact checked and reviewed by a third-party research service company (the “Reviewer”) represented by a credentialed financial analyst [for further information on analyst credentials, please email info@active-investors.com. Rohit Tuli, a CFA® charterholder (the “Sponsor”), provides necessary guidance in preparing the document templates. The Reviewer has reviewed and revised the content, as necessary, based on publicly available information which is believed to be reliable. Content is researched, written and reviewed on a reasonable effort basis. The Reviewer has not performed any independent investigations or forensic audits to validate the information herein. The Reviewer has only independently reviewed the information provided by the Author according to the procedures outlined by A-I. A-I is not entitled to veto or interfere in the application of such procedures by the third-party research service company to the articles, documents or reports, as the case may be. Unless otherwise noted, any content outside of this document has no association with the Author or the Reviewer in any way.

NO WARRANTY

A-I, the Author, and the Reviewer are not responsible for any error which may be occasioned at the time of printing of this document or any error, mistake or shortcoming. No liability is accepted whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of this document. A-I, the Author, and the Reviewer expressly disclaim any fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise arising from any reliance placed on the information in this document. Additionally, A-I, the Author, and the Reviewer do not (1) guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or correct sequencing of the information, or (2) warrant any results from use of the information. The included information is subject to change without notice.

NOT AN OFFERING

This document is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned or discussed, and is to be used for informational purposes only. Please read all associated disclosures and disclaimers in full before investing. Neither A-I nor any party affiliated with us is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with any agency or in any jurisdiction whatsoever. To download our report(s), read our disclosures, or for more information, visit http://active-investors.com/legal-disclaimer/.

CONTACT

For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly. If you’re a company we are covering and wish to no longer feature on our coverage list contact us via email and/or phone between 09:30 EDT to 16:00 EDT from Monday to Friday at:

Email: info@active-investors.com
Phone number: 73 29 92 6381
Office Address: 6, Jalan Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

SOURCE: Active-Investors

ReleaseID: 500570