JUNO BEACH, Fla., Jan. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra
Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) today announced it has completed the previously announced sale of FiberNet and its subsidiaries
(together, "FiberNet") to Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) ("Crown Castle") for $1.5
billion in cash.
"We are pleased to have completed the sale of FiberNet to Crown Castle," said Jim Robo,
chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy. "As part of our strategy to grow our long-term contracted and
rate-regulated asset base, this transaction enables us to recycle capital to focus on our core businesses and support our overall
credit position and strong balance sheet."
A portion of the sale proceeds are expected to be used to retire approximately $375 million
principal amount of FiberNet long-term debt, as well as to fund, in part, the potential acquisition of Oncor. The impact of the
gain on the sale at the time of closing will be excluded from adjusted earnings. The transaction, which was subject to receipt of
regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions, is accretive to NextEra Energy earnings immediately upon
closing.
UBS Investment Bank served as financial advisor to NextEra Energy and Hogan Lovells served as legal counsel.
NextEra Energy, Inc.
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company with consolidated revenues of approximately $17.5 billion and approximately 14,300 employees in 27 states and Canada as of
year-end 2015, as well as approximately 45,000 megawatts of generating capacity, which includes megawatts associated with
noncontrolling interests related to NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) as of April 2016.
Headquartered in Juno Beach, Fla., NextEra Energy's principal subsidiaries are Florida Power & Light Company, which serves more than 4.8 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United
States, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator
of renewable energy from the wind and sun. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity
from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New
Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company and
included in the S&P 100 index, NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability,
corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities
industry in Fortune's 2016 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit
these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Cautionary Statements and Risk Factors That May Affect Future Results
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but instead
represent the current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NextEra Energy) and Florida Power
& Light Company (FPL) regarding future operating results and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are
inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's and FPL's control. Forward-looking statements in this press release
include, among others, statements concerning adjusted earnings per share expectations and future operating performance, and
statements concerning future dividends. In some cases, you can identify the forward-looking statements by words or phrases
such as "will," "may result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "seek," "aim," "potential," "projection,"
"forecast," "predict," "goals," "target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or expressions. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance. The future results of
NextEra Energy and FPL and their business and financial condition are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause their
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, or may require them to
limit or eliminate certain operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: effects of
extensive regulation of NextEra Energy's and FPL's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to recover in a
timely manner any significant amount of costs, a return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital through base
rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and economic factors on
regulatory decisions important to NextEra Energy and FPL; disallowance of cost recovery by FPL based on a finding of imprudent
use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or policies that support
utility scale renewable energy projects of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and its affiliated entities (NextEra Energy Resources)
or the imposition of additional taxes or assessments on renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations,
interpretations or other regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy and FPL; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of potential
regulatory action to broaden the scope of regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) financial derivatives and to apply such regulation
to NextEra Energy and FPL; capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various liabilities attributable to environmental
laws, regulations and other standards applicable to NextEra Energy and FPL; effects on NextEra Energy and FPL of federal or state
laws or regulations mandating new or additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions; exposure of NextEra Energy
and FPL to significant and increasing compliance costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a result of
extensive federal regulation of their operations; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of changes in tax laws and in judgments and
estimates used to determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of adverse results of
litigation; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of failure to proceed with projects under development or inability to complete the
construction of (or capital improvements to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure
facilities or other facilities on schedule or within budget; impact on development and operating activities of NextEra Energy and
FPL resulting from risks related to project siting, financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the
negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in the operation and maintenance of electric generation,
transmission and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities and other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy and FPL of
a lack of growth or slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage; impact on NextEra Energy and FPL of severe
weather and other weather conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could result from terrorism, cyber
attacks or other attempts to disrupt NextEra Energy's and FPL's business or the businesses of third parties; inability to obtain
adequate insurance coverage for protection of NextEra Energy and FPL against significant losses and risk that insurance coverage
does not provide protection against all significant losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact NextEra
Energy Resources' gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra Energy Resources to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure
projects and for certain existing projects to be impaired; risk to NextEra Energy Resources of increased operating costs
resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary to provide NextEra Energy Resources' full energy and capacity requirement
services; inability or failure by NextEra Energy Resources to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity risk within its
portfolio; potential volatility of NextEra Energy's results of operations caused by sales of power on the spot market or on a
short-term contractual basis; effect of reductions in the liquidity of energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage
operational risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's and FPL's risk management tools associated with their hedging and trading
procedures to protect against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen price variances from historical behavior;
impact of unavailability or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation facilities on sale and delivery of power
or natural gas by FPL and NextEra Energy Resources; exposure of NextEra Energy and FPL to credit and performance risk from
customers, hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of NextEra Energy or FPL counterparties to perform under derivative
contracts or of requirement for NextEra Energy or FPL to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts; failure or
breach of NextEra Energy's or FPL's information technology systems; risks to NextEra Energy and FPL's retail businesses from
compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in the market values of derivative instruments and limited
liquidity in OTC markets; impact of negative publicity; inability of NextEra Energy and FPL to maintain, negotiate or renegotiate
acceptable franchise agreements with municipalities and counties in Florida; increasing costs of
health care plans; lack of a qualified workforce or the loss or retirement of key employees; occurrence of work strikes or
stoppages and increasing personnel costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete and integrate acquisitions,
including the effect of increased competition for acquisitions; NextEra Energy Partners, LP's (NEP's) acquisitions may not be
completed and, even if completed, NextEra Energy may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisitions; environmental,
health and financial risks associated with NextEra Energy's and FPL's ownership and operation of nuclear generation facilities;
liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for significant retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums in the
event of an incident at certain nuclear generation facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures at nuclear generation
facilities of NextEra Energy or FPL resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; inability to
operate any of NextEra Energy Resources' or FPL's owned nuclear generation units through the end of their respective operating
licenses; liability of NextEra Energy and FPL for increased nuclear licensing or compliance costs resulting from hazards, and
increased public attention to hazards, posed to their owned nuclear generation facilities; risks associated with outages of
NextEra Energy's and FPL's owned nuclear units; effect of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets on NextEra Energy's and FPL's ability to fund their liquidity and capital needs and meet their growth objectives;
inability of NextEra Energy, FPL and NextEra Energy Capital Holdings, Inc. to maintain their current credit ratings; impairment
of NextEra Energy's and FPL's liquidity from inability of credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain their
current credit ratings; poor market performance and other economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit
pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other risks to the asset values of NextEra Energy's and FPL's nuclear
decommissioning funds; changes in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's investments; effect of inability of
NextEra Energy subsidiaries to pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of NextEra Energy's performance under
guarantees of subsidiary obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial obligations and to pay dividends on its
common stock; the fact that the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's common stock, as well as the dividend
policy approved by NextEra Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that policy, are within the sole
discretion of NextEra Energy's board of directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts that are less than might
be expected by shareholders; NEP's inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable terms could have an effect
on its ability to consummate future acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner interest in NextEra Energy
Operating Partners, LP; and effects of disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital markets on the market
price of NextEra Energy's common stock. NextEra Energy and FPL discuss these and other risks and uncertainties in their annual
report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and other SEC filings, and this news
release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings made through the date of this news release. The forward-looking
statements made in this news release are made only as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy and FPL undertake no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nextera-energy-completes-sale-of-fibernet-to-crown-castle-international-corp-for-15-billion-300392233.html
SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.