In the Media
More and More Mergers
By Dennis J. Wamsted, Electric Perspectives
Bob Zabors, Director of the Energy Practice Group, shares his outlook on M&A activity in the US utility industry in the July/August issue of the Edison Electric Institute's Electric Perspectives.
The boundaries of the electric utility industry are being redrawn-both literally and figuratively- as company executives seek to position their firms for an uncertain future. In the past 18 months alone, nine major deals valued at roughly $72 billion in stock, debt, and cash have been announced, and financial industry executives and utility consultants say more are on the way. While in some ways part of a continuum of change that began in the 1990s with the onset of competition, industry experts say the recent deals are different-they represent a new approach. What the industry's new boundaries will look like in five years is anybody's guess, they added, but one thing is certain-that landscape will look entirely different from today's.