LS Power Said to Near Deal for EDF’s American Renewables Arm
(Bloomberg) -- LS Power LLC is in advanced talks to buy Electricite de France SA’s North American renewable power business amid rising energy demand to supply data centers, according to people familiar with the matter.
LS Power is discussing paying more than €4 billion ($4.7 billion) for the unit, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. A deal may be announced in the coming days or next week, the people said. Talks may drag on for longer and could still fall apart, they added.
A spokeswoman for EDF said the company can’t comment on an ongoing process, while a representative for LS Power declined to comment.
The EDF unit for sale had 6.1 gigawatts of solar and wind in operations in the US, Canada and Mexico at the end of last year, and a further 19.2 gigawatts under development.
A deal would further reshape the portfolio of closely held LS Power, which recently sold some of its gas-fired power plants to NRG Energy Inc. for about $13 billion in cash and NRG stock, while it acquired some renewable assets from Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. The New York-based company also agreed this year to buy some electric-generation assets from Constellation Energy Corp. for about $5 billion, and purchased some onshore wind assets from BP Plc for an undisclosed amount.
Deal activity has picked up in the US power industry as demand surges for electricity. Manufacturers, homes and especially data centers are all clamoring for more power, which is driving up prices. The tech industry continues to chase ambitious plans to add computing capacity across the US with the biggest Silicon Valley companies forecasting more than $700 billion of capital spending this year alone.
Meantime, the French state-owned utility is raising funds to help finance the construction of nuclear reactors in France and the UK to replace part of its aging atomic plants. That investment — costing tens of billions of euros over the next two decades — coincides with falling French power prices, putting the utility’s finances under pressure.
According to the group’s annual document, EDF expects its annual investments to climb to €28 billion per year in the 2026-28 period — up from €24 billion last year — as it prolongs the lifetime of its nuclear reactors, and boosts spending on the construction of new atomic plants and on the upgrade of France’s power grid.
While EDF managed to reduce its net financial debt to €51.5 billion last year, the increase in capital expenditure comes as the utility foresees a slight drop in profits this year due to falling power prices.
To limit cash outflows, EDF outlined plans to save €1 billion on annual expenditure by 2030, and recently sold a gas-fired power plant in Brazil for about €230 million. The company is also seeking to divest its renewable energy assets in China, and part or all of a small unit that’s developing hydrogen projects.
To raise more funds, the French nuclear giant is also considering selling a minority stake in its Italian unit Edison SpA. However, the plan is being disrupted by the war in the Middle East and the damage to Qatari gas-export plants that supply large volumes of the fuel to Edison.
(Adds details on EDF asset sales in last two paragraphs)
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