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French Giant May Back Away From Challenge to Warren Buffett's Constellation Deal
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Executive Producer
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Gail Burton / AP The Constellation Energy building in Baltimore. (2005 file photo) |
That's according to Dow Jones this morning, although the wire service quotes a source as saying EDF's bid is "still valid." According to that source, "In the end, it'll be up to (Constellation) shareholders to decide. EDF hopes they'll opt for the best price."
(Some shareholders suits have already been filed against Constellation challenging the deal's price.)
EDF has revealed that last week it teamed with the private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital to make a bid of $35 a share for Constellation. That's $8.50 more than the $26.50 Constellation agreed to in its quickly-arranged deal with MidAmerican.
EDF already owns almost 10 percent of Constellation and is a joint venture partner in the construction of four new nuclear power plants.
Both MidAmerican and Constellation are offering an immediate injection of $1 billion for Constellation, which has seen its stock badly roughed up by the current credit crisis.
Current price: [CEG
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But in a conference call, Constellation Chairman & CEO Mayo Shattuck called the MidAmerican deal "the best overall solution for all our stakeholders."
One factor: U.S. regulations against foreign ownership of Constellation's five existing nuclear power plants.
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Buffett's strong reputation also played a big part in the calculation. According to Shattuck, "Regardless of how you might interpret the various sources of a billion dollars of equity, there was no question in our minds that the billion dollars of equity coming from this source (Berkshire), with this backing and this history, meant a lot more than it would have in some other cases."
The WSJ's Deal Journal calls it the "power of Buffett. Nothing soothes like Buffett's involvement. In a volatile world, he is as close to a sure thing as the finance world sees."
Current Berkshire stock prices:
Class A: [US;BRK.A
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Class B: [US;BRK.B
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Questions? Comments? Email me at
- Warren Buffett Tells CNBC He Wholeheartedly Supports Bailout Plan (September 23)
- Is Washington Wishing and Waiting for Warren Buffett? (September 22)
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Retreats From Friday's Last-Second Spike (September 22)
- New Buffett Biography "Reveals Flaws, Recounts Triumphs" Reports AP In Sneak Peek (September 19)
- Warren Buffett May Have Competition for Constellation Energy (September 19)
- Last-Second Spike Sends Buffett's Berkshire Back to All-Time High Territory (September 19)
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
