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....aber mein Englisch ist nicht gut genug........
-Stichworte: Verkauf oder Fusion Hoffentlich gehen wir nicht leer aus......... The pending sale of Aquila Inc. to Great Plains Energy Inc. may be in peril after hearings on the transaction were delayed until January and the Missouri Public Service Commission chairman withdrew from the proceedings. Chairman Jeff Davis recused himself Thursday in response to accusations of improper communications between himself and Aquila CEO Rick Green. The companies then asked the PSC to delay further hearings on the deal, in which Great Plains would pay $1.7 billion and assume about $1 billion in debt. The recusal means the commission will be left with four members. A 2-2 vote on the sale would be a rejection of the deal, said Kevin Thompson, general counsel for the PSC. "The public needs to have absolute confidence in the process, and to the extent this matter has become a distraction from reaching a fair decision in the case at hand, the distraction needs to be removed, and I need to take myself out of the equation," Davis said in a statement. "I categorically deny any wrongdoing in this matter." Davis' recusal comes in the wake of a letter sent earlier in the day from Attorney General Jay Nixon to the Office of the Public Counsel. Nixon's letter asked the public counsel to seek Davis' recusal. On Monday, the commission agreed to release e-mails between Green and Aquila's board. In the e-mails, Green explained that he had contacted Davis, as well as regulators with the Kansas Corporate Commission, to discuss the proposed merger. "We do courtesy things like that all the time," Aquila spokesman Al Butkus said. "He made the same courtesy call to (Commission Chairman Brian) Moline in Kansas." As part of that phone call, Butkus said, Green noted a case in New Jersey in which a proposed merger between two utilities lingered for two years. The delay ultimately killed the merger. In one e-mail, Green wrote: "Chairman Davis said that he wants to see a strong utility in the western part of the state and is willing to move quickly to get the transaction approved. It is clear he wants to demonstrate to a wide audience that he can push deals through in Missouri. He specifically said that he wants to show that Missouri is not like New Jersey." Since Aquila (NYSE: ILA) and Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP) first announced the transaction on Feb. 11, 2006, federal regulators and state regulatory commissions in Nebraska and Iowa have approved the deal. Missouri and Colorado officials are considering it, and Kansas is expected to start hearings early next year. Aquila officials had hoped to have the deal finalized in the first quarter of 2008. PSC spokesman Kevin Kelly said commissioners would vote on the deal after hearings conclude and after they determine whether a "briefing schedule" is necessary. Unlike rate cases, he said, the regulators are not required to act on the proposed sale within a specific time.
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