Aquila Inc. (formerly UtiliCorp United, Kansas City, Missouri) entered an agreement March 15 with FirstEnergy Corp. (Akron, Ohio) to acquire 79.9% interest in FirstEnergy's wholly owned subsidiary Avon Energy Partners Holdings, which is the holding company for Midlands Electricity plc. Aquila's commitment is at a price of US$264 million. It plans to operate Midlands Electricity, the fourth-largest regional electricity company in the United Kingdom, which has more than 2.3 million network customers. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals with an expected close date of mid-April.

Aquila and FirstEnergy will own all outstanding shares of Avon Energy Partners Holdings through a jointly owned subsidiary, with each company having 50% voting interest. Midlands Electricity's assets include its 38,000-mile (61,155-km) electric distribution network, an investment in the 1875-MW Teesside Power generating plant in the United Kingdom, and investments in other energy businesses. Midlands Electricity serves the city of Birmingham and parts of Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester. In 2001, it had sales of approximately $566 million and earnings before interest and taxes of about $275 million.
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