Infrastructure

NextEra Energy Offers Equity Units; NextEra Energy Partners Issues 35 Million New Units

137592441
Thinkstock
Electricity utility NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) announced Thursday that it intends to sell $700 million of equity units priced at $50 each. Proceeds of approximately $692 million will be added to the general funds of NextEra Energy Capital Holdings and are expected to be used to fund investments in energy and power projects, including renewable power projects, and investments in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: NEP).

According to the announcement:

Each equity unit will be issued in a stated amount of $50. Each equity unit will consist of a contract to purchase NextEra Energy common stock in the future, and a 5 percent undivided beneficial ownership interest in a NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. debenture due Sept. 1, 2020, to be issued in the principal amount of $1,000. The debentures will be guaranteed by NextEra Energy Capital Holdings’ parent company, NextEra Energy, Inc.

At the same time, NextEra Energy Partners announced that it had priced an underwritten public offering of 8 million limited partner common units at $26.00 per unit. That reflected a discount of about 0.7% to the closing price of $26.18 on Thursday.

ALSO READ: 3 Stocks to Buy That Got Hit Despite Great Earnings and Prospects

The underwriters for the offering include joint bookrunners Wells Fargo Securities, Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, as well as co-managers BMO Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities, RBC Capital Markets and UBS Investment Bank. Underwriters have a 30-day option on another 1.2 million units.

The company expects to use proceeds of approximately $208 million from the offering to repay amounts owed under a $313 million term loan. A subsidiary of NextEra Energy has agreed to purchase directly from NextEra Energy Operating Partners $702 million of its common units at the offering price paid by purchasers in the public offering in a private placement. NextEra Energy Operating Partners intends to use the proceeds of the private placement to repay the amounts remaining under the term loan after application of the proceeds of the public offering, and intends to use the balance of the proceeds from the private placement to finance a portion of the NET Midstream acquisition and for general partnership purposes.

At $26 per common unit, the private placement reflects an additional 27 million units.

Common units of NextEra Energy Partners traded up about 0.4% Friday morning, at $26.29 in a 52-week range of $24.75 to $48.23.

Shares of NextEra Energy closed up fractionally on Thursday to $95.35 and were inactive Friday morning. The stock’s 52-week range is $90.33 to $112.64.

ALSO READ: 3 Top Telecom Services Stocks to Buy on Surging Demand

Want to Retire Early? Start Here (Sponsor)

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.