Northeast Utilities and NSTAR announced they are combining forces. These are two big utility companies. Northeast is #1231 on the Global 5000 list and NSTAR is ranked #1672. Combined, they will be in the top 1000 companies in the world.
Utilities did not escape the economic downturn — and in fact, coming off robust growth in 2008, the overall industry performance was quite a shock. Revenue for this segment (we have 122 utility companies worldwide) grew 11% in 2007 and followed that up with 23% growth in 2008 only to see a decline (2% down) in 2009. Quite the roller coaster.
Once again we see big companies sitting on cash and looking for ways to use it for growth — in this instance it is growth thru acquisition.