Blackstone's group gives $5.34 billion to Williams for its power push

Williams announced?on Monday? that a Blackstone led consortium will invest $5.34billion for a non-controlling 49% stake in five of its power generation projects. This investment will provide the U.S. pipe operator with the capital it needs to expand.

The consortium, including Apollo and KKR-managed vehicles will contribute $4.4 Billion towards the behind-the meter projects. This represents 49% of expected growth capital expenditures along with an additional $900 M?.

Energy companies are 'driven by the surge in power demand from AI centers and data centres to build projects behind the meter that directly supply users, bypassing the grid, with private equity funding the bill more often, if they want to ease the strain on their balance sheets.

The deal includes Williams' Ohio projects - Socrates Apollo Socrates the younger and Neo - along with Aquila. These are all part of the broader pipeline that Williams is developing, consisting of more than six gigawatts.

Williams can purchase Blackstone's share between 7 and 14 years based on how much of Blackstone’s investment is still outstanding.

The company said the deal would reduce its capital commitment, preserve its balance-sheet capacity and allow it to continue to maintain commercial and operational control as part of its long-term target.

The partnership will help expand its Power Innovation business, which boasts more than 2.6 gigawatts in announced projects. (Reporting and editing by Maju Sam and Vijay Kishore in Bengaluru)

(source: Reuters)