By AP / KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis-based Ameren has gotten the last government approval it needs to buy Illinois Power.
The Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on the $2.3 billion buyout. The deal will be complete once both companies finalize paperwork.
About 200,000 electric and gas customers in the Metro-East will become Ameren customers when the deal's complete. The deal will also mark Ameren having more customers in Illinois than in Missouri.
Ameren is buying Illinois Power from Houston-based Dynegy. Ameren will acquire IP's stock and absorb $1.8 billion of debt. Ameren also gets Dynegy's 20% interest in Electric Energy, which owns a nearly 1,100 megawatt, coal-fired plan in Joppa, Ill. That boosts Ameren's stake in that plant to 80%.
Illinois Power has about 600,000 electric and 415,000 natural gas customers throughout central Illinois, the Quad Cities and St. Louis' Illinois suburbs. It's based in Decatur, Ill., and will continue to be for at least five years, as promised by Ameren.