The agreement is on. The companies are not one utility yet
Emera Inc. (TSX: EMA, NYSE: EMA), ATCO Ltd. (TSX: ACO.X), and Canadian Utilities Limited (TSX: CU) said Tuesday they have a definitive agreement to combine Emera and Canadian Utilities in a merger of equals. The Business Wire and CNW notes are dated Oct. 6. Combined enterprise value is put at about $72 billion, with about $45 billion of rate base and six million customers.
The combined company will operate as Emera. Public-company headquarters stay in Halifax. Canadian Utilities keeps corporate and operating offices in Calgary and Edmonton, plus Perth. Florida stays in Tampa. Scott Balfour remains CEO. Nancy Southern becomes Co-Chair with Karen Sheriff. Until close, the three companies keep operating on their own.
Canadian Utilities Class A holders, other than ATCO, get 0.755 of an Emera common share. Class B holders get 0.819. Emera shareholders are expected to own about 60 percent after close. ATCO and Canadian Utilities holders take about 40 percent. ATCO spins housing, defence, ports, and retail energy into a new listed company, New ATCO. That spin is not the utility.
Close is the third or fourth quarter of 2027. It still needs shareholder votes, the Court of King's Bench of Alberta, the AUC, FERC, and a stack of other regulators. The circular is slated for early 2027. This is a signed deal. It is not a close, not an AUC rate order, and not first power from a new plant.