Iberdrola maintains its plans to grow in the U.S. and expects to close the merger with PNM in 2024.
Iberdrola maintains its plans to grow in the United States, a strategic country for the group, and is confident of closing the merger of its subsidiary Avangrid with PNM Resources in the first half of 2024.
In an informal meeting with the press in Mérida as part of the first edition of the ‘Convive’ Awards, the chairman of Iberdrola, Ignacio Sánchez Galán, has considered the obstacles to the closing of an operation announced in 2020. as normal, although he has expressed confidence that the merger will be brought to a successful conclusion.
In this regard, he stressed that, beyond the transaction, the United States is a strategic region for Iberdrola, which plans to allocate a third of its 47 billion euro investment ‘mega-plan’ to the country.47 billion, excluding the amount of the merger, which would amount to more than $8 billion, considering net debt plus adjustments.
Last April, Avangrid agreed with PNM to extend until July 20 the deadline to complete the merger pending the decision of the New Mexico court.
However, in mid-May the Court rejected the request to submit it to a new hearing and return the merger process to the regulator, and set an oral hearing for next September 12, representing a further delay in completing the transaction merger, after it was set back in December 2021 by the New Mexico state regulator.
PNM Resources and Avangrid, together with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, filed a joint motion in the New Mexico Supreme Court in March to dismiss the denial it had received and thus return the case to the regulator.
Nevertheless, the group chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán continues with its objective of materializing this purchase, which would mean the major operation of the Spanish energy company to accelerate its growth in the U.S. market.
The acquisition would create one of the largest companies in the North American sector, with ten regulated electric utilities in six states (New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Texas) and the third largest renewable operator in the country, with a total presence in 24 states. The merger has received approval from five federal agencies and the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
