Newark, N.J. – Power company Mirant Corp. on Wednesday sued rival energy producer NRG Energy Inc., claiming that NRG is unfairly rejecting its nearly $8 billion takeover bid.
Atlanta-based Mirant sought a court order in Delaware directing NRG not to obstruct its attempts to acquire NRG. Mirant asserted that NRG is using a “transaction ploy” to turn aside the offer by claiming that Mirant is using confidential information from NRG’s former financial adviser.
Mirant said it has not received any confidential information.
Princeton-based NRG called the lawsuit “a desperate attempt to compensate for the fact that Mirant’s proposal significantly undervalues NRG.” The suit, filed in the Chancery Court of Delaware, came a day after the takeover bid became public when NRG announced it was rejecting the offer, saying it was not in the best interests of its shareholders.
The lawsuit does not name the financial adviser. However, in a May 23 letter that NRG released Tuesday, NRG executives refer to the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, which was involved with efforts to extract Mirant from bankruptcy.
The letter, to Mirant chairman and chief executive Edward R. Muller and Mirant’s board, said discussions of combining the companies date to November.
Mirant proposes to buy NRG at about $57.16 a share, a premium of about 33 percent to NRG’s share price Tuesday of $43.01.
