El Paso Electric to be acquired by JPMorgan infrastructure fund in $4.3 billion all-cash deal
El Paso Electric Co. shares soared 14.6% in premarket trade Monday, after the utlity said it has agreed to be acquired by JPMorgan’s Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF) in a deal with an enterprise value of $4.3 billion. IIF will pay $68.25 per El Paso share in cash, equal to a premium of 17% over the stock’s closing price on May 31. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2020. IIF has agreed to keep El Paso’s workforce of union and non-union workers and management in place and has committed to $21 million in credits on customer electric bills over 36 months. El Paso will continue to run as an independent, regulated utility based in El Paso, Texas. El Paso serves about 428,000 retail and wholesale customers. Shares have gained 16% in 2019, while the S&P 500 has gained 10%.
Source : MTV
