NRG Yield Completes Acquisition Of Power Generation Assets

Acquired the assets of privately held Energy Systems of Omaha, NE, a supplier of district energy.

NRG Yield Inc. (NYSE: NYLD) completed its acquisition of the assets of privately held Energy Systems Co. (ESC) of Omaha, Neb., an award-winning supplier of district energy, for $120 million in cash, the company announced Dec. 31.

NRG Yield owns a wide range of renewable and conventional generation and thermal infrastructure assets in the United States, including three natural gas or multi-fuel facilities as well as solar and wind generation facilities representing 1,324 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity.

ESC is the Princeton, N.J.-based NRG Yield’s first acquisition outside its relationship with parent company NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG), and the ninth thermal generation project in its portfolio.

NRG Yield plans to fund the purchase price using cash on hand and expects the acquisition to increase cash available for distribution by an estimated $8 million in 2014. The assets will be acquired debt-free.

“The acquisition of ESC demonstrates NRG Yield's ability to successfully compete for attractive contracted energy assets available from third parties,” David Crane, NRG Yield’s chairman and CEO, said in a release. “In addition to contributing to our objective of sustainable and visible dividend growth for our investors, ESC provides us another important opportunity to supply the energy needs of business and other institutional customers directly and in a manner that is not entirely grid dependent.”

"As just the second owner in ESC’s 45-year history, we have long been committed to providing reliable district energy service to our many customers in downtown Omaha," Todd Johnson, ESC's chairman and CEO, said in the release. "So it was important to us that the new owner be a stable, well-respected company like NRG that would honor that tradition of operational excellence. We are confident that it is an exceptional fit for both parties."