Loading
TECO Energy Inc. customers might have been surprised to see a headline in the St. Petersburg Times' March 13 business section raising the question of whether the Tampa-based electric, natural gas and coal company, is a “target” for a merger with a larger utility. The question is actually answered in the article's third paragraph.
“TECO has been talked about as a target for a very long time,” Roger Conrad, a Falls Church, Va.-based utility analyst, told the Times. He should know, having fueled some of that talk over the years in his Utility Forecaster newsletter.
TECO declined comment on the story. But in an interview published by the Business Review Feb. 18, company President and CEO John Ramil addressed some of the occasional buyout speculation.
“Any type of merger or acquisition, whether it's the total company or a particular business, is an opportunity that might come up, but not a strategy,” Ramil said. “We like where we are. We like our future.”
Speculation about a potential TECO takeover peaked earlier this year when neighboring Progress Energy Inc. agreed to a $14-billion buyout by Duke Energy Corp. Lately, TECO is trading near the top of its 52-week range ($14.46 to $18.77) on the New York Stock Exchange, and the company posted revenue of nearly $3.5 billion for 2010.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
