AES stockholders approve $10.7B buyout by BlackRock-led consortium

AES Corp. stockholders voted 97.92% in favor of the company's $10.7 billion acquisition by a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of BlackRock, and EQT Infrastructure VI, the utility announced Friday.

"Today's vote reinforces our conviction that this transaction meaningfully enhances value while positioning AES for its next phase of growth," Holly Koeppel, lead independent director of AES' board, said.

The all-cash deal values AES at $15.00 per share, representing a total enterprise value of about $33.4 billion including the assumption of $22.7 billion in proportional net debt. Co-underwriters California Public Employees' Retirement System and Qatar Investment Authority are also part of the consortium. The vote represented approximately 67.17% of all outstanding shares.

The transaction, expected to close in late 2026 or early 2027, still requires federal, state and foreign regulatory approvals. The consortium's backing from three of the world's largest institutional investors — BlackRock's GIP with $206 billion in infrastructure assets, CalPERS with $597.7 billion in assets, and QIA — signals strong conviction in AES's regulated utility and clean energy platform, which spans 14 countries.

The approval de-risks what would be one of the largest take-private transactions in the U.S. power sector this decade. AES, a Fortune 500 company with operations across regulated utilities and renewable energy, will gain greater financial flexibility under private ownership to invest in grid modernization and clean energy projects, according to Andrés Gluski, the company's chairman and chief executive.

The consortium's composition pairs infrastructure specialists GIP and EQT with two of the world's largest institutional capital pools. CalPERS, the largest U.S. public pension fund, and QIA, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, are co-underwriting the deal alongside the lead investors. EQT, the Swedish investment firm, manages EUR 269 billion in total assets.

AES shares have traded near the $15 offer price since the deal was announced, reflecting high market confidence in the transaction's completion. The final voting results will be filed in a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The deal's structure mirrors a broader trend of infrastructure investors acquiring regulated utilities to gain exposure to stable, inflation-linked cash flows from grid investment programs. U.S. electric utilities are expected to spend more than $200 billion on grid modernization through 2030, driven by data center demand and electrification, according to industry estimates. Private ownership gives AES greater latitude to pursue that capital spending without quarterly earnings pressure.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.