MidAmerican chairman David Sokol told Bloomberg Thursday that the deal is in the best interest of stakeholders. "We have a signed merger agreement. We have no intention to alter our bid," he contended.
EdF announced Wednesday it was offering to pay $4.5 billion for half of Constellation's nuclear assets -- more than 50% of their fair value, according to estimates by analysts at WestLB AG -- and up to $2 billion for some of its non-nuclear assets, which together works out to about $52 per share, according to EdF.
Meanwhile, MidAmerican, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., agreed to pay $4.7 billion in cash, or $26.50 per share, for the whole company in September when Constellation was reeling from its trading division and considering bankruptcy. Constellation shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal Dec. 23.
EdF CFO Daniel Camus told
Bloomberg Thursday it was approached by unhappy Constellation investors to make the revised offer because they were "just not comfortable with the price."
MidAmerican wouldn't make out too badly if Constellation ends up going with EdF. It would walk away with $593 million in cash, a 9.9% stake and $1 billion in 14% senior notes to be repaid a year from now.
- Claire Poole
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Inc. is digging in its heels, saying it doesn't plan to raise its offer to buy Baltimore power producer Constellation Energy Group Inc. in light of Electricite de France SA's higher offer for some of its assets.
