“MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., the power-production unit at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), agreed to buy NV Energy Inc. (NVE) for about $5.6 billion in cash to expand in Nevada.
The acquisition will make MidAmerican the largest U.S. utility owner by customer count, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.The Berkshire unit will pay $23.75 per share, 23 percent more than NV Energy’s $19.28 closing price today, the companies said in a statement.
Buffett has been boosting investments in capital-intensive businesses as he seeks to allocate funds at his Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which had a cash pile of $49.1 billion as of March 31. MidAmerican will have assets of about $66 billion after the completion of the deal, which is expected in the first quarter of next year, according to the statement.
“By joining forces with MidAmerican, we will gain access to additional operational and financial resources,” Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of Las Vegas-based NV Energy, said in the statement.
The purchase is the largest announced acquisition of a U.S. regulated electricity company since Duke Energy Corp. (DUK)bought Progress Energy Inc. last July…..”
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