TXU Corp. board accepts biggest buyout offer in U.S. history
The white-hot controversy over 11 proposed coal plants in Texas has taken on a new hue. The board of TXU Corp., which has kicked up an anti-coal firestorm among businesses, politicians, and citizens, voted yesterday to accept the largest leveraged buyout offer in U.S. history -- and the $45 billion deal looks oddly green. The buyout group, led by Goldman Sachs and private equity firms Texas Pacific Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, negotiated with TXU critics Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council to settle pending lawsuits over the company's original coal-plant plan. In return, the new owners would build three plants instead of 11; support federal legislation to limit greenhouse gases; cut pollution; pursue wind power; spend $400 million to encourage energy efficiency; and cut consumer rates 10 percent. "We didn't want to be on the wrong side of history," says one person involved in the deal, which now has to be approved by TXU shareholders. Spooky, ain't it.
source: The Dallas Morning News, Elizabeth Souder, 26 Feb 2007
source: Houston Chronicle, Associated Press, David Koenig, 26 Feb 2007
source: Bloomberg News Service, Dan Lonkevich and Edward Klump, 26 Feb 2007
source: The New York Times, Andrew Ross Sorkin, 26 Feb 2007
see also, in Gristmill: If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em,
Obama headed to Copenhagen, sets the bar for success
Comments
View as Flat
neubert Posted 3:29 pm
26 Feb 2007
Permalink