PM Edition: Ranking 2021's top utility M&A advisers, energy debt underwriters

➤ J.P. Morgan finishes 2021 as top utility M&A adviser

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC was the top M&A adviser in the utility sector in 2021, recording $11.85 billion of annual deal credit through five transactions. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC came in second among utility advisers, followed by Barclays Capital Inc. at the third spot.

➤ JP Morgan claims top spot in 2021 as oil, gas debt offerings accelerate in Q4

J.P. Morgan Securities ended the year with the highest value of total debt offerings, while Mizuho Securities USA LLC's big quarter helped it overtake former first-placers TD Securities (USA) LLC and Barclays Capital to land in third place.

➤ Wells Fargo again finishes as top utility debt underwriter for 2021

Wells Fargo Securities LLC closed 2021 as the top debt underwriter for North American utilities for the second year in a row. J.P. Morgan Securities, which served as the top debt underwriter through the first three quarters of 2021, finished the year in second place.

OTHER NEWS

* AES Corp. is set to increase its interest in AES Andes SA to 98.13% from 66.98%, following the positive results of a tender offer for shares held by minority shareholders. Minority shareholders tendered 3,232,850,689 shares of AES Andes, equivalent to 94.35% of the offer. The shares will be purchased at 135.14 Chilean pesos apiece, according to a news release.

* The Virginia State Corporation Commission has approved the second phase of Dominion Energy Virginia's grid transformation plan that includes $650 million of investments in 2022 and 2023. The second phase of the plan focuses on investments needed to "facilitate and optimize the integration of distributed energy resources, such as small-scale solar, energy storage facilities, and electric vehicles," the utility said in a news release.

* Greencoat UK Wind PLC acquired the 43.2-MW Windy Rig and the 48.5-MW Glen Kyllachy subsidy-free wind farms in Scotland after their completion. The addition of these project increases Greencoat UK Wind's net generating capacity to 1,422 MW and the number of subsidy-free assets in its portfolio to three from a total of 43 operating wind farms.

CHART WATCH

Curtailments of solar and wind generation last year topped 1,504 GWh on the California ISO system, about 5% less than in 2020, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of grid operator data.

RESEARCH

* US companies in good shape despite rise in borrowing costs

* Utilities narrow valuation discount to broad markets after December surge

QUOTED

"As it gets hotter and hotter and hotter, and demand for electricity gets higher, we expect the grid to fail. If, and that's a big 'if,' historic exchanges of electricity continue, and California has a high demand for electricity because of heat, it could cause the Pacific Northwest to run out of electricity, as they won't be able to meet their own demand." – Jordan Kern, assistant professor of forestry and environment resources at North Carolina State University, upon the release of two studies looking at the impacts climate change are likely to have on the western U.S. electric grid.

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