Deals
Utility M&A Is So Hot Not Even Berkshire’s Billions Won a Bid
- Last year’s $68 billion transaction tally was most in decade
- Dominion takes spree into 2018 with $7.9 billion Scana buy
Why Scana Agreed to Be Acquired by Dominion
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There are few things that better illustrate the banner year 2017 was for deals among North American power companies than this: Even billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. wasn’t able to come away with a winning bid.
The industry saw $68.2 billion of acquisitions in 2017, the most in a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With electricity prices low and profit margins tight, the buying spree is continuing into the new year with Dominion Energy Inc. announcing on Wednesday it will buy Scana Corp., a utility battered by a failed nuclear project, for $7.9 billion in a stock-for-stock deal.