A 627 Trillion Won Energy Giant Is Born Amid the AI Power Boom... NextEra to Acquire Dominion Energy

[The Financial News]  \r\n
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A huge merger and acquisition deal among power companies has been completed amid the AI boom, which has created an "electricity-guzzling monster."
Florida-based NextEra Energy agreed on the 18th local time to acquire Dominion Energy for about $67 billion, or about 99.85 trillion won. The offer represents a 23% premium to Dominion Energy's closing price of $61.73 on the 15th.
The combined company will have an enterprise value of $420 billion, including market capitalization and debt. A mammoth power company is being created amid the AI boom.
According to the Financial Times (FT), the merger is the fourth-largest deal in the history of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). The combined company will supply electricity to more than 10 million homes and businesses from Florida to Virginia.
With this merger, NextEra will be able to expand beyond its home base in Florida into Dominion's strongholds, including North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Dominion is expected to give NextEra a major boost, as it is a key utility provider supplying power to the so-called Data Center Alley in northern Virginia. The area is the heart of U.S. AI infrastructure and home to about two-thirds of global internet traffic.
As big tech hyperscalers such as Microsoft (MS), Amazon.com, Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. race to expand data centers to meet AI demand, competition to supply them with power is also intensifying.
NextEra is the world's largest utility company, supplying power to nearly every state in the United States, and its enterprise value stands at $303 billion.
The merged NextEra-Dominion company will be headquartered in both Florida and Virginia, and will supply 110 gigawatts (GW) of electricity based on a diverse mix of energy sources, including natural gas, nuclear power, wind and solar.
NextEra said the combined company's power generation capacity will expand to 130 GW in the future, in line with rising electricity demand from AI data centers.
Meanwhile, the merger is expected to face a difficult regulatory approval process because of its scale and influence. In addition to clearance from federal antitrust authorities and energy regulators, state oversight agencies where Dominion supplies power are also expected to scrutinize the deal closely.
Dominion's stock jumped more than 8% on the day, even as New York stocks fell for a second straight session.
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dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter