Aug 18, 2017

Electricity giant Calpine to be acquired

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Energy Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Houston-based power generation giant Calpine for $5.6 billion, or $17 billion including debt. The deal comes with a 45-day "go-shop" provision and works out to $15.25 per share, which represents a 51% premium to price before first media reports of a possible transaction. Also participating on the buy-side are Access Industries and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Why it matters: Calpine claims to be the country's largest producers of electricity from natural gas and geothermal energy, and one of its largest electricity retailers. But it's also gotten hammered by low natural gas prices and competition from renewables, which helped cause a $29 million net loss in Q2 2016 to balloon to a $219 million net loss in Q2 2017.

Data point: Global energy and power M&A is up 28% over year-to-date figures for 2016, per Thomson Reuters.

Bottom line: Deals are not yet done in this sector, nor even deals involving Energy Capital Partners. The New Jersey-based private equity firm is the largest outside holder in Calpine rival Dynegy, which reportedly received a takeover offer from Vistra.

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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In photos: Thousands evacuated as Southern California fire grows

A plane makes a retardant drop on a ridge at the Apple Fire north of Banning in Riverside County, which "doubled in size" Saturday, per KTLA. Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A massive wildfire that prompted mandatory evacuations in Southern California over the weekend burned 26,450 acres and was 5% contained by Monday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The big picture: As California remains an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., some 15 separate fires are raging across the state. About 7,800 people were under evacuation orders from the Apple Fire, about 75 miles east of Los Angeles, as hundreds of firefighters battled the blaze. CalFire said Monday that a malfunction involving a "diesel-fueled vehicle emitting burning carbon from the exhaust system" started the Apple Fire.

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Twitter faces FTC fine of up to $250 million over alleged privacy violations

Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket

The Federal Trade Commission has accused Twitter of using phone numbers and emails from its users to make targeted ads between 2013 and 2019, Twitter said in an SEC filing published Monday.

Why it matters: Twitter estimates that the FTC's draft complaint, which was sent a few days after its Q2 earnings report, could cost the company between $150 million and $250 million. The complaint is unrelated to the recent Twitter hack involving a bitcoin scam.

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