Membership Spotlight
Southern Company, parent of Business Council of Alabama member Alabama Power, announced today that it will buy AGL Resources, a natural gas utility company in a deal worth $8 billion in equity and an enterprise value of $12 billion.
The boards of directors of Southern Company and AGL Resources have approved a definitive merger agreement, according to their announcement.
AGL Resources is located in Atlanta as is SouthernCompany, which also has an executive office in Birmingham. Southern Company is the parent of Alabama Power Company, Georgia PowerCompany, Gulf Power Company, Mississippi Power Company, Southern Nuclear, Southern Power, and Southern Telecom and SouthernLINC Wireless.
“The cornerstone strengths of these two companies are commitments to continuous improvement and providing customers with outstanding service and innovative energy solutions,” said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Thomas A. Fanning. “With technological advances and customer preferences rapidly changing, the addition of AGL Resources should better position us to provide customers with clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy for decades to come.”
AGL Resources Chairman and CEO John W. Somerhalder II said, “We’re very excited about the future possibilities this combination will bring for our customers, communities and employees. There is a common culture among our companies, including a shared commitment to world-class customer service.”
The Southern Company is a major consumer of natural gas in America. In addition to coal, hydro, and natural gas, the company also produces electricity with nuclear power.
“Southern Company has been innovating around the full portfolio for decades,” Fanning said. “And with the evolution of changing regulations and the technology revolution taking place in energy production, Southern Company and AGL Resources will be well-positioned to meet a future that needs more natural gas infrastructure for our customers’ benefit.”
The purchase will create a major electric and natural gas utility with approximately nine million utility customers in nine states. AGL Resources shareholders will receive $66 in cash per share or common stock, a premium of 36 percent.
When completed, the combination will better position the companies to provide necessary natural gas infrastructure to meet customers’ growing energy needs, and will create the second-largest utility company in the U.S. by customer base.
This will include 11 regulated electric and natural gas distribution companies providing service with a projected regulated rate base of approximately $50 billion; nearly 200,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines and more than 80,000 miles of gas pipelines; and generating capacity of approximately 46,000 megawatts.
– Dana Beyerle