Deals
Sempra to Sell Assets—Just Not All That Elliott Asked For
- Utility plans to divest all U.S. wind, solar assets, some gas
- Activist investors Elliott, Bluescape express disappointment
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Sempra Energy’s tangle with billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. is only just getting started. So is the foray of activist investors into the once rock-steady U.S. utility business.
On Thursday, California utility owner Sempra resisted (for now) demands by Elliott to get rid of its Latin American and liquefied natural gas businesses, setting the stage for what may become a prolonged battle between the two. Get used to it -- because tussles between utilities and activists like this are bound to continue, says Nick Akins, chief executive officer of a fellow utility owner, American Electric Power Co.