Date Closed

January 5, 2021

Lead Office

Calgary

Value

3.63 Billion USD

On January 5, 2021, Centrica plc completed its sale of Direct Energy, its North American energy supply, services and trading business, to NRG Energy Inc. for US$3.625 billion (approximately £2.85 billion) in cash.

Centrica intends to use the proceeds from this transaction to reduce net debt, and to focus on its home core markets of the UK and Ireland. The acquisition will diversify NRG's business, expanding its presence into all 50 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and adding more than three million retail customers.

Centrica is the largest energy supplier in the UK, providing heat and electricity services to a variety of residential and business customers.

NRG Energy, based in Texas, is a prominent power supplier in North America focused on energy generation and retail electricity.

McCarthy Tétrault acted as Canadian counsel to Centrica and Direct Energy with a team led by David Woollcombe and Cathy Samuel, and including Niki Gill (Corporate/M&A), Joseph Palin (Financial Services), Patrick McCay, Rob Nearing, Nicolas Cloutier, Wendy Brousseau, Salvatore Mirandola and Steve Marshall (Tax), Kelleher Lynch, Randy Bauslaugh and Deron Waldock (Pensions & Benefits), Don Houston, Jonathan Bitran and Erin Keogh (Competition), Ben Aberant (Employment), Mendy Chernos, Kara Smyth, Reena Goyal, Keith Guinn, Nicole Fitz-Simon and Nathan Stewart (Litigation/Risk), and Kimberly Howard (Regulatory/Environmental).