Avangrid’s shareholders have approved Iberdrola’s acquisition of the remaining 18.4 per cent of Avangrid’s capital, through a merger operation.
The acquisition was supported by approximately 99 per cent of the votes cast, compared to just 1 per cent of votes cast against.
The percentage of support amongst the voting shareholders, if the votes of Iberdrola and QIA (Iberdrola’s main shareholder) are excluded, reached approximately 93 per cent.
The acquisition, first announced in March, will result in the delisting of Avangrid from trading on the NYSE once the necessary regulatory authorisations have been received and the transaction has closed. To this end, Iberdrola will pay USD 2.55 billion (about EUR 2.3 billion).
Both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Maine Public Utilities Commission (subject to a final written order) have approved the merger, which is expected to close before the end of the year. The transaction now only requires the approval of the New York Public Service Commission.
The transaction is expected to allow Iberdrola’s growth to continue in the United States, where it has been present for more than 20 years. Nearly a decade ago, Iberdrola merged its North American subsidiary with the listed UIL Holdings, forming Avangrid, which has been listed on the NYSE ever since.
Avangrid has assets of USD 46 billion. The company distributes electricity to a population of 7 million people in the states of New York, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts and has an installed capacity of 8,700 MW of renewable energy across 24 states and 8,000 employees.
Up to 2030, Avangrid has organic growth opportunities totalling USD 30 billion of investment in transmission and distribution grid networks (New York, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts), offshore wind (following the recent contract award for New England 1 offshore wind farm), solar PV, and onshore wind.
The transaction approved by shareholders is expected to allow Avangrid to have more agile access to additional financial resources to undertake these investments.
Iberdrola’s executive chairman, Ignacio Galán , noted that ”the operation is fully aligned with our strategy of investing in networks in countries with high credit ratings, such as the United States. Avangrid will have all the necessary resources to continue growing in transmission and distribution grid networks, and also in renewable technologies, such as offshore wind.”