PPL Corp. said Thursday it has cleared final regulatory hurdle for its spinoff forming a new power-generating company.
The U.S. Justice Department has closed its antitrust review of the transaction involving PPL Energy Supply, which is PPL’s competitive generation business, and RJS Power Holdings, which is the competitive generation business of Riverstone Holdings LLC, PPL said in a news release.
This action is the final regulatory decision needed to close the transaction, and keeps PPL and Riverstone on track to launch the new company by June 30, PPL spokesman George Lewis said. The transaction will form Talen Energy, which will be an independent, publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange operating the combined, competitive power generation businesses of PPL Energy Supply and RJS Power Holdings.
Talen, with $1 billion in annual earnings, will be big enough to land a spot on the Fortune 500 list of biggest American companies. Only two other Lehigh Valley-based companies — PPL and Air Products — are on that list. The new company will make its temporary home at PPL Plaza at Ninth and Hamilton streets in Allentown, the present location of PPL Energy Supply.
Talen has considered multiple sites in the Lehigh Valley for its permanent headquarters, including at Sixth and Hamilton streets and in Phillipsburg, according to sources.
Lewis said some work is still needed to finalize the spinoff, including procedures to be completed before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, Lewis said PPL’s board of directors must set details about the dividend of Talen stock that will be granted to PPL shareholders.
“But we’ve gotten through these important reviews, and now we’re basically on the runway,” Lewis said.
Previously, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved filings related to the transaction.
Allentown-based PPL Corp., which sells electricity in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and the United Kingdom, has about 10 million customers. Its PPL Electric Utilities subsidiary has 1.4 million customers in 29 counties.
Riverstone Holdings LLC is an energy private investment firm founded in 2000 by David M. Leuschen and Pierre F. Lapeyre Jr. with approximately $30 billion of equity capital raised.
The company has committed approximately $29 billon to more than 110 investments on five continents, according to PPL’s news release.
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