Black Hills, NorthWestern Energy to merge in $15.4 billion deal
CHEYENNE (WNE) — Black Hills Energy and NorthWestern Energy officials announced Tuesday that the two South Dakota-based companies plan to combine in an all-stock, tax-free merger.
If the merger is approved, the new company is expected to have a combined enterprise value of $15.4 billion and would serve just over 2 million customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Black Hills Energy President and CEO Linn Evans said the two companies have been discussing the merger for about 20 years.
The agreement between Black Hills Energy and NorthWestern has North-Western shareholders receiving a fixed exchange ratio of 0.98 shares of Black Hills stock for each share of NorthWestern they own at the close of the transaction.
According to a Black Hills Energy news release, the exchange ratio implies an approximately 4% premium based on the volume weighted average price of each company’s common stock. Black Hills shareholders will continue to hold the same number of shares of the combined company that they hold of Black Hills immediately prior to the closing of the transaction.
When the merger is completed, Black Hills shareholders will own approximately 56% and NorthWestern shareholders will own approximately 44% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis, the release said.
The combined company’s electric utility will serve approximately 700,000 customers and operate around 38,000 miles of electric lines and approximately 2.9 gigawatts of owned generation capacity fueled by a mix of thermal, hydro and wind.
The natural gas utility will serve approximately 1.4 million customers and operate around 59,000 miles of natural gas lines.
It will take between 12 and 15 months for the merger to be approved, subject to customary closing conditions, approval from each company’s shareholders and regulatory approvals.
In the meantime, each company will continue to operate individually as normal.
This story was published on August 20, 2025.