April 23, 2023, they were given the same date vanguard (subsidiary of Iberdrola in the US) and pnm (operator from the US state of New Mexico) to complete its merger process. The countdown has begun for the Spanish energy company: the agreed term for the merger between the two companies will expire in three months. However, the New Mexico market regulatory body remains silent after denying the operation. A scenario that puts Iberdrola at risk, if it happens, it would be its second largest operation outside Spain and the largest in the United States.
The market regulation body rejected the merger as it appreciated the operation not in the interest of consumers, To this end, it included already archived investigative cases against Iberdrola and its managers in the Villarejo case. But this institution is not the only one that has yet to rule. Supreme Court of New MexicoFor which both companies appealed the decision after the New Mexico regulator has not yet issued a decision.
A decision, the latter, transcendent for the company. Thus, in an interview last September, Avangrid’s recently elected CEO, Pedro Azagra, assured that the company “is not considering restarting the process, but it was possible to renegotiate or try to reach an agreementA lot depends on what the court said.
But more than twelve months have passed since the decision was taken to choose the end of April of this year as the deadline to merge and, at the same time, announce an appeal against the decision of the regulatory body. A reality that becomes even more complicated if we consider that this operation was announced in 2020 to be closed for the entire year 2021. how much will the operation cost close to 4 billionAccording to company sources.
Thus, on January 4, 2022, Iberdrola notified the CNMV that Avangrid had notified the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) of the agreement reached with North American PNM Resources (PNM), so that the merger agreement signed by the two companies Expiry can be extended. By April 20, 2023, an agreement that could be extended by mutual agreement for a further period of three months “under certain circumstances”.
According to the energy company, the company’s investment plan is 30,000 million dollars for 2020–2025 in transport, distribution networks and renewables, with which “it will practically double renewable capacity at the end of the period”. Some of the investments aimed at “strengthening its leadership in onshore wind while increasing its presence in the offshore wind and photovoltaic solar industry”.
From the US, some voices suggest that a merger agreement could be reached before the established date. Thus, an analyst at Mizuho Bank (the third largest financial services company in Japan) assured that “it is likely that the sale of PNM resources to AvanGrid will be closed before 1 mayNew Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grison appointed three members to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, all three with “extensive” experience in utility regulation and renewable energy policy.
Few voices dare to venture the medium-term future of Iberdrola’s largest operation in the US. Meanwhile, the two companies involved in the merger remain silent, as this newspaper has been able to verify while discussing Failed to get Avangrid’s opinion on timing of operation, The position of the subsidiary in the North American region is not getting any easier. In fact, it recently lost a major auction for offshore wind power launched in California and is currently failing a PPA (long-term contract) at its macro-project in Massachusetts due to rising prices.
