PPL Buys E.ON’s U.K. Power Network for $5.6 Billion in Cash

PPL Corp., owner of Pennsylvania’s second-largest utility, agreed to buy E.ON AG’s power grid in central England for 3.5 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in cash to triple its customers in the U.K.

The U.S. utility will assume 500 million pounds of debt in its acquisition of Central Networks, the companies said. E.ON is getting a 30 percent premium to the value of the assets assigned by the regulator, said Mark Freshney, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG. That’s more than a premium of as much as 25 percent Electricite de France SA got when selling its U.K. grid last year, he said.