Duke Energy Corp. on March 9 closed its previously announced public offering of 21,275,000 shares of its common stock. The net proceeds amounted to approximately $1.58 billion after the underwriters exercised their overallotment option to purchase up to an additional 2,775,000 shares of the company.
Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities acted as joint book-running managers of the offering.
In line with the transaction, Duke Energy signed forward sale agreements to issue 21,275,000 shares to affiliates of Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan at an initial forward sale price of $74.0720. The forward sales agreements are expected to be settled by Dec. 31.
Duke Energy may opt for cash settlement or net share settlement for all or a portion of its rights or obligations under the forward sale agreements.
In connection with the forward sale agreements, the forward counterparties borrowed from third-party lenders and sold to the underwriters 21,275,000 shares of Duke Energy's common stock at the close of the offering, according to a company release.
The company will use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.
