Andrew Maykuth at the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on how Exelon Corp.'s acquisition of Baltimore's Constellation Energy is indicative of trends in the energy industry.
"As the economy improves and demand for power generation picks up, utilities and power plants are becoming more attractive to investors...The activity is being driven by pent-up demand for deals, lots of cash on balance sheets, and improving share prices.
Exelon, the Chicago utility giant that owns Peco Energy Co., agreed last week to buy Constellation for $7.9 billion in stock. Constellation is the parent company of Baltimore Gas & Electric.
Including net debt of $2.65 billion, the acquisition value of Constellation is about $10.5 billion, or slightly less than all the merger activity in the industry during the first quarter of 2010."
Read the full story here.