Valued at more than $4.3 billion, the all-cash deal would have delivered PNM Resources to Avangrid, a subsidiary of global energy giant Iberdola. PNM Resources owns TNMP and Public Service Co. of New Mexico.
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A proposed multi-billion-dollar merger between the owners of Texas New-Mexico Power that serves much of the Lone Star State and a Connecticut-based company has been scuttled.
Valued at more than $4.3 billion, the all-cash deal would have delivered PNM Resources to Avangrid, a subsidiary of global energy giant Iberdola. PNM Resources owns TNMP and Public Service Co. of New Mexico.
But on January 2 Avangrid called off the deal, blaming regulatory uncertainty. The parties had been waiting for a decision from the New Mexico Supreme Court after that state’s Public Regulation Commission earlier had rejected the merger. However, the 2023 calendar year closed without any decision from the high court.
“Avangrid has terminated the merger agreement because all final regulatory approvals were not received by December 31, 2023, the end date under the merger agreement after which either Avangrid or PNM could terminate the merger agreement if the merger had not yet been consummated,” Avangrid said in a statement.
“We are greatly disappointed with Avangrid’s decision to terminate the merger agreement and its proposed benefits to our customers and communities,” PNM president and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn said in a statement.
Originally crafted in 2020, the multi-billion-merger would have provided TNMP and Public Service Co. of New Mexico with greater purchasing power and helped move those business entities closer to its carbon-free goals, according to company officials. But New Mexico regulators rejected the deal because of concerns over Avangrid’s reliability and customer service track record in other states. Regulators also noted that the company initially withheld information from them, a move that resulted in a $10,000 penalty.
PNM Resources in January 2023 filed an appeal of the rejection with the New Mexico Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments last fall but never issued a final ruling.