N-power firm Exelon Corp to acquire Pepco Holdings for over $5.4 bn

Exelon Corp, the largest owner and operator of nuclear power plants in the US, has agreed to buy utility company Pepco Holdings Inc for more than $5.4 billion in cash, Bloomberg yesterday reported, citing people familiar with the deal.

Exelon, based in Illinois, may announce the deal as early as today before the US market opens, the report said.

The deal would come two years after Exelon acquired Constellation Energy for $7.7-billion. (See: Exelon Corporation acquires Constellation in $7.7 billion deal)

Pepco is one of the largest energy delivery companies in the Mid-Atlantic region, serving about 2 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and New Jersey.

Through its subsidiaries, Pepco also provides regulated electricity, natural gas energy efficiency and renewable energy services.

The Washington-based company has a market cap of $5.7 billion and posted net loss of $ $212 million in 2013 on revenues of $4.6 billion.

With 17 reactors at 10 stations under it, Exelon operates the largest number of US nuclear power plants representing approximately 20 per cent of the US nuclear industry's power capacity.

It owns approximately 35,000 megawatts of power generation, including the nation's largest nuclear fleet of more than 19,000 megawatts.

It is also the nation's second-largest regulated distributor of electricity and gas, with more than 6.6 million customers in Maryland, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Exelon operates in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.