CDN NEWS | 
US NEWS 
By David Carnevali, Ryan Gould, and Dinesh Nair
Blackstone Inc. is in talks to acquire TXNM Energy Inc., the owner of New Mexico’s largest utility, according to people familiar with the matter.
The private equity firm’s infrastructure arm, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, has emerged as the likeliest buyer of TXNM after other suitors dropped out of the bidding, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
TXNM shares rose as much as 6.8% on Monday. The stock was up 2.1% at 10:13 a.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of about $5 billion. Including its debt, the firm has a value of roughly $11.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
While an agreement could be reached as early as the coming weeks, the talks may be delayed or falter, the people said. Any deal would also need to overcome market volatility and secure regulatory approval, some of the people said.
A representative for Blackstone declined to comment, while a spokesperson for TXNM couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The talks come with US utilities positioned to benefit from surging power consumption from data centers, new factories and the electrification of buildings and cars. That’s accelerating dealmaking.
Earlier on Monday, NRG Energy Inc. said it will acquire a fleet of natural gas-fired power plants from LS Power Equity Advisors LLC for about $12 billion including debt. NRG is also acquiring LS’s CPower business. In January, Constellation Energy Corp. agreed to buy closely held Calpine Corp. for $29 billion, including debt.
Formerly known as PNM Resources Inc., TXNM owns two utilities serving more than 800,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas. The company has been exploring a sale and has drawn interest from KKR & Co., Bloomberg News has reported.
The company had agreed to sell itself to Avangrid Inc., a US unit of Spain’s Iberdrola SA, for $4.3 billion in 2020 but the deal was scrapped after New Mexico regulators rejected the takeover.
(An AI summary was removed from this story as it ascribed an erroneous value to the transaction.)
(Updates shares in third paragraph.)
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