By David French
(Reuters) -BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is in advanced talks to buy utility group AES, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in a deal that could exceed $38 billion including debt.
AES shares jumped more than 15% to $15.15, trading at their highest level in around 11 months, on the news which was first reported by the Financial Times.
A transaction could be announced in the coming weeks, according to two of the sources, who cautioned there was no guarantee that an agreement will be reached and talks could still fall through.
The two sources, plus two further sources, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations, confirmed that discussions have been ongoing between AES and GIP in recent months.
AES carries consolidated debt of around $29 billion and, as of last close, its market capitalization stood at $9.37 billion, implying an enterprise value of more than $38 billion.
AES declined comment. GIP did not respond to a request for comment.
Power companies are drawing investor interest as artificial intelligence and data centers drive a surge in power demand, spurring a wave of dealmaking across the sector.
AES, which surpassed Wall Street estimates for its second-quarter profit in July, has experienced significant growth in its renewables unit over the past year. This expansion has been fueled by a global push for cleaner sources of power generation, coinciding with projections that U.S. power consumption will reach record levels.
BlackRock last year acquired GIP for $12.5 billion as part of its move to expand its footprint in infrastructure and private markets.
GIP has a notable track record in the utility space, including teaming up with CPP Investments last year on a pending $6.2 billion take-private acquisition of U.S. utility Allete.
Arlington, Virginia-based AES has power assets on four continents, generating more than 36,000 megawatts, according to its website.
(Reporting by David French in New York and Gnaneshwar Rajan and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Ateev Bhandari and Arunima Kumar ; Editing by Alan Barona, Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Harikrishnan Nair, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Mark Porter and Nick Zieminski)
