ASSOCIATED PRESSThursday, October 11, 2007
DALLAS — TXU Corp., the biggest power generator in Texas, officially passed from public to private ownership Wednesday and got a new name as investors closed the $32 billion buyout.
The new owners are investors led by private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG, formerly Texas Pacific Group.
TXU changed its name to Energy Future Holdings Corp.
Donald L. Evans, former U.S. commerce secretary, has been named non-executive chairman for Energy Future Holdings and will lead the company's board of directors.
"This transaction is not only good for TXU shareholders, but also for employees, customers and residents across the state of Texas," he said in a release.
Critics say the sale will lead to higher prices for consumers to pay off $24.5 billion in new debt that the buyers put on TXU.
Company officials responded Wednesday that they would cut electric rates for consumers by 5 percent on top of a 10 percent reduction last spring. The company also said its Luminant unit would withdraw eight air permit applications that had been filed for coal-fueled generation units that will not be built.
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