A consortium comprising Stonepeak Partners and Bernhard Capital Partners is nearing an agreement to acquire Louisiana-based utility Cleco Power in a transaction valued at approximately $5.75bn to $6 billion, according to a report by Bloomberg citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The seller group includes Macquarie Group alongside British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and Manulife Investment Management. Sources said a deal could be announced as early as Monday, although none of the parties involved have commented publicly on the negotiations.
Cleco Power operates regulated electricity generation assets across five facilities in Louisiana, with total capacity exceeding 2.6 gigawatts. The business is positioned within the state’s regulated power sector, serving as part of the broader US utility infrastructure base.
The potential transaction comes amid growing investor interest in power generation assets, driven by rising electricity demand from data centres, industrial reshoring, and electrification trends. The sector has seen increased deal activity as infrastructure investors target stable, long-duration cash flows linked to regulated utilities.
If completed, the deal would follow a series of recent large-scale utility transactions, including BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and EQT’s agreement to acquire AES Corp in a deal valued at roughly $10.7bn.
Cleco’s ownership structure has included long-term infrastructure investors, reflecting the continued appeal of US regulated utilities as core infrastructure assets. The transaction would be subject to regulatory approvals.
