Great Plains Energy said Wednesday it agreed to buy Kansas City-based energy company Aquila for $1.7 billion, but not before Aquila sells some of its utility assets in the midwest to Black Hills Corp. for close to $1 billion.
Under terms of the deal, Great Plains, the parent company of Kansas City Power & Light, will acquire Aquila and its Missouri-based electric utility assets for $1.7 billion and also assume about $1 billion in debt. The transaction is expected to be completed in about a year.
Immediately prior to that deal, Black Hills will buy Aquila's electric utility in Colorado and its gas utilities in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa for $940 million.
Great Plains said that after the transaction is complete it will have revenue of more than $3 billion and about 800,000 customers. The company said it expects to keep most of the employees working for the Aquila operations it is acquiring, though there may be some position reductions where support services overlap.
Black Hills expects to retain all of the employees working for the Aquila operations it is acquiring.
