Avangrid shareholders have approved Iberdrola’s acquisition of the 18% of the company not already owned by the Spanish energy giant.
Iberdrola will pay $2.55bn in the transaction.
Of the votes cast, approximately 99% of the shareholders approved the share buyback, according to an Avangrid release.
The move will take Avangrid go private and will be delisted from trading on the New York Stock Exchange once the necessary regulatory approvals.
Avangrid shareholders will receive $35.75 per share, representing a 15.2% premium, compared to the 30-day weighted average share price prior to the announcement in March.
According to Avangrid, the transaction will allow the company to have more agile access to additional financial resources to undertake investments in transmission and distribution grid networks in New York, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts.
Iberdrola executive chairman Ignacio Galán (pictured centre) said that the transaction is “fully aligned with our strategy of investing in networks in countries with high credit ratings, such as the United States”.
“Avangrid will have all the necessary resources to continue growing in transmission and distribution grid networks, and also in renewable technologies, such as offshore wind”, he said.
Avangrid has an installed capacity of 8,700 MW of renewable energy across 24 states and 8,000 employees.
The company has the 791MW New England Wind 1 project under development, and this month won a power purchase agreement from the state of Massachusetts.
Avangrid’s New England Wind 2 project is in early development.