PPL Arranges Significant Portion of Financing for E.ON U.S. Acquisition Via Offerings of Common Stock and Equity-Linked Securities

ALLENTOWN, Pa., June 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) today (6/21) announced concurrent offerings of 90 million shares of its common stock and $1.0 billion of equity unit securities. Proceeds of the offerings will be used to fund a portion of the purchase price of the company's recently announced $7.6 billion acquisition of E.ON U.S., LLC, the parent company of Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company.

The acquisition is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary conditions of closing and is anticipated to close later in 2010.

The offerings are being made under an effective shelf registration on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In connection with the offerings, PPL will also grant the underwriters of the offerings an option to purchase an additional 13.5 million shares of PPL common stock and an additional $150 million of equity units to cover over-allotments.  

BofA Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are acting as the lead book running managers for both the common stock and equity unit offerings. Citi, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities are joint book runners for the common stock offering. In addition, Barclays Capital, J.P. Morgan and UBS Investment Bank are joint book runners for the equity unit offering.

PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa., owns or controls nearly 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities law of any such jurisdiction. These offerings may be made only by means of a prospectus and related prospectus supplement, copies of which may be obtained by contacting:

Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements with respect to future earnings, securities offerings and corporate strategy, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although PPL Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the statements. The following are among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: market demand and prices for energy, capacity and fuel; weather variations affecting customer energy usage; competition in retail and wholesale power markets; the effect of any business or industry restructuring; the profitability and liquidity of PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries; new accounting requirements or new interpretations or applications of existing requirements; operating performance of plants and other facilities; environmental conditions and requirements; system conditions and operating costs; development of new projects, markets and technologies; performance of new ventures; political, regulatory or economic conditions in countries where PPL Corporation or its subsidiaries conduct business; receipt of necessary governmental approvals; capital market conditions; stock price performance; foreign exchange rates; and the commitments and liabilities of PPL Corporation and its subsidiaries. Any such forward-looking statements should be considered in light of such factors and in conjunction with PPL Corporation's Form 10-K and other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE PPL Corporation