FPL, Entergy to Merge in $6.4-Billion Deal

FPL Group Inc., the parent of Florida Power & Light Co., agreed to acquire Entergy Corp. in a $6.4-billion deal that would create the No. 1 U.S. electric utility. The news sent shares of FPL lower, reducing the original value of the deal, on disappointment that FPL itself was not the takeover target, arbitrageurs said. Shares of FPL fell $4.56 to close at $48.25 on the NYSE. Entergy fell $3.19 to close at $27.13, also on the NYSE. Based on FPL’s price Monday morning, the deal values New Orleans-based Entergy at about $28.08 a share. Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL and Entergy agreed to form a new holding company with 6.3 million customers and 48,000 megawatts of power generating capacity. Terms of the deal, the latest example of consolidation in the utility industry, call for FPL shareholders to receive one share in the new company for each of FPL’s 170.5 million diluted shares outstanding. Entergy shareholders would receive 0.585 share in the new company for each of their 228.1 million diluted shares outstanding. The merger is subject to shareholder and federal regulatory approval and is expected to close in about 15 months.