RWE Agrees To Buy Con Edison's Clean Energy Businesses For $6.8 Bln

(RTTNews) - RWE AG (RWEOY.PK), a German energy firm, said it has agreed to buy Con Edison's Clean Energy Businesses for an enterprise value of $6.8 billion. Closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the first half of 2023.

Furthermore, with EBITDA of around $600 million from year one on, the acquisition is earnings accretive.

RWE said that the deal will almost double RWE's renewables portfolio in the US to more than gigawatts (GW) and grow its regional project pipeline to more than 24 GW.

The acquisition will be partly funded by RWE issuing a 2.43 billion euros convertible bond to a Qatar Investment Authority unit, through which the QIA will become a 9.09% shareholder in RWE.

RWE has raised its earnings outlook for the year and earmarked up to 15 billion euros for investment in the US as part of its Growing Green strategy, which envisages global spending of 50 billion euros by 2030. The company said it maintains its plan to pay a dividend of 0.90 euros per share for fiscal 2022.

"The acquisition of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses is a major boost for RWE's green expansion in the United States, one of the most attractive and fastest growing markets for renewable energy," Chief Executive Officer Markus Krebber said.

In a separate statement, Con Edison said it intends to forego its previously announced plan to issue up to $850 million of common equity in 2022 and withdraws its equity guidance for 2023 and 2024.

"The transaction we announced today will allow Con Edison to sharply focus on our core utility businesses and the investments needed to lead New York's ambitious clean energy transition," Con Edison CEO Timothy Cawley said.