PacifiCorp May Spin Off Unit to Finance Deal

PacifiCorp has agreed to buy British firm Energy Group for $6 billion in cash and plans to sell its Pacific Telecom unit to help finance the deal, a source close to PacifiCorp said. “The transaction is clearly going forward and an announcement will be made as soon as this week or early next week,” said the source. “The financing package is being feverishly worked on and is what is causing a delay,” he said. Terms of the deal would call for PacifiCorp to pay about $6 billion in cash and assume another $4 billion in debt. The source said financing could come from the spinoff of Pacific Telecom, which provides local service to rural and suburban customers in the West, Midwest and Alaska. Discussions regarding the sale of the division, which could fetch $1.5 billion, are under way, the source said.