An arm of private-equity firm Blackstone Inc. has agreed to buy TXNM Energy Inc. – an Albuquerque-based utility, for about $5.7 billion in cash. Including TXNM’s preferred stock and net debt, the value of Blackstone’s announced deal rises to $11.5 billion.
That’s about $3 billion more than what Avangrid – a sustainable energy company and part of the Iberdrola Group, agreed to pay for TXNM (then still called PNM Resources) in the fall of 2020. Avangrid eventually abandoned its plan in January 2024 after opposition from New Mexico regulators to the companies’ proposed community benefits agreement. The TXNM team will take a different approach to seeking regulatory approvals for the Blackstone purchase. The plan is to engage more deeply with various stakeholders before submitting plans with New Mexico regulators.
For the Avangrid acquisition, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (NM PRC) had also raised concerns regarding the service track record of Central Maine Power Company (CMP), Avangrid’s Maine utility, alongside an ongoing investigation into alleged spying by three Iberdrola executives. The deadline for final regulatory approvals had lapsed on December 31, 2023, as outlined in the merger agreement, leading to Avangrid terminating the merger agreement in early 2024.
As part of the companies’ transaction, Blackstone has committed to buying $400 million worth of TXNM stock at $50 per share next month. Those proceeds will help fund the utility’s growth investments and executives plan to issue an additional $400 million of stock before the Blackstone deal closes. Shares of TXNM rose more than 7 per cent to about $56.70 after the deal’s announcement. They’re now up nearly 20 per cent over the past six months.
TXNM Energy provides electricity to 800,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas, through its regulated utilities Texas-New Mexico Power (TNMP) in Texas and PNM in New Mexico. TXNM attributed their successes to following a deliberate approach to investing in PNM and TNMP in a manner aligned with the priorities of its customers and communities.
Blackstone Infrastructure has about $60 billion in assets under management, most of them in North America. Among its portfolio companies is renewable-energy developer Invenergy, which has built about 190 wind, solar and storage projects. Blackstone also owns about 5 per cent of FirstEnergy Corp. and in early 2024 invested more than $2.1 billion in NiSource Inc.’s Northern Indiana Public Service Co. LLC.
The TXNM deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026.