Asset manager Blackstone is expanding its flourishing infrastructure business with a deal to buy energy holding company TXNM Energy for nearly $5.7 billion in cash.

Blackstone Infrastructure has agreed to pay $61.25 a share for the TXNM, the companies said Monday, a roughly 16% premium to Friday’s closing price of $52.88 for the Albuquerque, N.M., company.

The deal, slated to close in the second half of 2026, carries an enterprise value of $11.5 billion, including net debt and preferred stock, the companies said.

In the interim, Blackstone Infrastructure plans to invest $400 million in TXNM by buying 8 million newly issued shares at $50 apiece in support of TXNM’s growth plans, the companies said, adding that TXNM Energy expects to issue an additional $400 million of equity prior to the deal’s closing.

TXNM provides electricity to about 800,000 homes and businesses in New Mexico and Texas. Blackstone Infrastructure, with $60 billion of assets under management, focuses on investing behind North American infrastructure platforms.

Blackstone’s stand-alone infrastructure strategy, which the New York company formed in 2017, has been playing an increasingly important role in the asset manager’s expansion.

The companies said Blackstone Infrastructure will fund the purchase price entirely with equity and doesn’t plan to increase TXNM’s leverage.

Blackstone’s agreement to buy TXNM comes after regulatory concerns scuttled a $4.3 billion deal struck in October 2020 for Avangrid, the U.S. renewables unit of Spain’s Iberdrola, to acquire the company, then known as PNM Resources.

The proposed transaction hit a roadblock in 2021 when New Mexico regulators rejected it, citing cited concerns about customer-service problems and reliability issues in other states where Avangrid operates. The companies appealed the decision, but Avangrid ultimately walked away from the deal at the end of 2023.

Source: Marketscreener