Emera Inc. to get $1.9B to help pay for TECO Energy purchase

Emera Inc.has arranged to get at least $1.9 billion from a group of banks to help pay for the Nova Scotia company's purchase of TECOEnergy Inc., a U.S. company with electric and gas utilities in Florida and New Mexico.

The TECOEnergy purchase worth about $10.4 billion US including assumed debt will extend Emera's presence to the southern states, including regional offices in Tampa, Fla., and Albuquerque, N.M.

The Halifax-based company announced Friday that it has a deal to buy TECOfor $27.55 US per share in cash, or about $6.5 billion US. It will also assume$3.9 billion US of debt.

The $1.9 billion worth of debentures to be issued to the banks can be converted to Emera equity. The banks have the option to purchase up to an additional $285 million of the securities at the same price within 30 days of closing.

Emera's main presence south of the border so far has been in the U.S. northeast. It also operates in some parts of the Caribbean as well as in the Atlantic provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador.

Among Emera's high-profile projects is the $1.6billion Maritime Link undersea cable project to carry electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador to the island of Newfoundland and then to Nova Scotia.