Parents of New York, Connecticut, and Maine Utilities With Retail Choice to Merge

The parents of several Northeast electric and natural gas utilities with retail choice programs have announced a merger agreement.

Specifically, Iberdrola USA will acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed U.S. publicly-traded company. The proposed transaction implies total value per share to UIL shareholders of $52.75, including $10.50 per share paid in the form of cash, representing a 24.6% premium to UIL's closing share price on February 25, 2015, and a 19.3% premium to the average closing price over the past 30 days.

Iberdrola USA operates New York State Electric & Gas (NYSE&G), Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) and Central Maine Power (CMP). UIL Holdings operates United Illuminating (UI), Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG), Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG) and Berkshire Gas (BGC).

The combined company will serve 3.1 million electric and gas customers across New York, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.

UIL's current President and Chief Executive Officer, James P. Torgerson, will become the company's CEO upon closing.