NRG Energy announced Monday (May12) that it is acquiring 18 natural gas-fired power plants across nine states from LS Power Equity Advisors for $12 billion, including debt.
As demand for dependable grid power for data and storage centers ramps up, the acquisition immediately expands the Houston-based power company’s generation footprint in the Northeast and Texas by 13GW, nearly doubling its firm-wide capacity to 25GW.
The transaction includes a $6.4 billion of cash and $2.8 billion in NRG stock to LS Power and the assumption of $3.2 billion of debt. The stock portion of the transaction includes 24.25 million shares of NRG valued using a 10-trailing VWAP of $114.98 per share.
The deal represents an acquisition multiple of 7.5x 2026 EV/EBITDA, or 50 percent of estimated new build replacement cost.
In addition, NRG is acquiring CPower, a Baltimore-based provider of distributed energy resources for commercial and industrial use. CPower operates in deregulated markets with more than six gigawatts of capacity for its more than 2,000 customers.
Once closed, LS Power is expected to own about 11 percent of NRG shares with a six-month lock-up period. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
Citi and Goldman Sachs are serving as NRG’s M&A advisors, and both have committed financing for the transaction. White & Case is advising as outside legal counsel.
The White & Case M&A team was led by Thomas Christopher (New York) and included Keith Hallam (New York), Morgan Hollins (Houston), Dilara Erik (New York), Anil Tanyildiz (Houston) and Luis Leos (Houston), Jennifer Chu (New York). The financing side was led by Eliza McDougall (New York) and Daniel Nam (New York)
For LS Power, Evercore is serving as lead financial advisor, with J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Solomon Partners Securities. Milbank and Willkie Farr & Gallagher are providing legal counsel.
The Willkie team was led by Adam Turteltaub (New York), and included Giovanni Smedley (New York), Archie Fallon (Houston), Antonio Yanez (New York), Robert Lepore (Los Angeles) and Christian Truman (Houston).
Lazard is serving as lead financial advisor to CS Power and Harris Williams is advising LS Power on that aspect of the transaction.
“This acquisition transforms NRG’s generation fleet and broadens our customized product offerings, enhancing our ability to bring the future of energy to millions of customers across the U.S.,” said Larry Coben, president & CEO of NRG.
“The transaction is financially compelling as it strengthens our credit profile and turbocharges NRG’s growth rate, while also supporting continued robust capital returns. We are in the early stages of a power demand supercycle, and we are excited to lead the way with reliable energy solutions that will drive considerable value for NRG and all of our stakeholders.”