We Energies completes acquisition of WPS, Integrys

Wisconsin Energy Corp. has completed its acquisition of Integrys Energy, parent company to Wisconsin Public Service Corp., to form the WEC Energy Group.

The WEC Energy Group will provide electricity and natural gas service to 4.4 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota after regulators in all four states and the federal goverment approved the acquisition.

The combined company is now the eighth largest natural gas distributor in the country and among the 15 largest investor-owned utility systems in the country. The company will keep operating headquarters in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Chicago.

The WEC Energy Group has set a payout target for dividends at 65 percent to 70 percent of earnings. The company also announced three former Integrys directors — William Brodsky, Albert Budney Jr. and Paul Jones — have joined WEC Energy Group's board of directors.