Southern Company announces public offering of common stock

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Aug 16, 2016, 04:04 ET

ATLANTA, Aug. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Company (NYSE: SO) today announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 32.5 million shares of its common stock, through which it expects to raise gross proceeds of approximately $1.6 billion. Barclays, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as joint book-running managers of this offering. The net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund a portion of the purchase price for the pending purchase of a 50% equity interest in Southern Natural Gas and for other general corporate purposes, which may include the investment by the company in its subsidiaries, including Southern Power. The offering is expected to close on August 19, subject to customary closing conditions.

The company has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for this offering. Before investing, interested parties should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the company and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the underwriters will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by contacting Barclays, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, by email at [email protected] or by telephone at (888) 603-5847; Goldman, Sachs & Co., Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, New York 10282, by telephone at (866) 471-2526, by facsimile at (212) 902-9316 or by email at prospectus‑[email protected]; Morgan Stanley, Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014; or Wells Fargo Securities, Equity Syndicate Department, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10152, by telephone at (800) 326-5897 or by email at [email protected].

This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of, or any solicitation of an offer to buy, these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Southern Company has 44,000 megawatts of generating capacity and 1,500 billion cubic feet of combined natural gas consumption and throughput volume serving 9 million electric and gas utility customers through its subsidiaries. Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states, natural gas distribution utilities in seven states, a competitive generation company serving geographically diverse wholesale customers and a provider of customized energy solutions, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications.

Cautionary Notes Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning the pending Southern Natural Gas investment, the expected closing of the offering and the use of proceeds from the offering. Southern Company cautions that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Southern Company; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results will be realized. The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Southern Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2016 and subsequent securities filings, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the impact of recent and future federal and state regulatory changes; current and future litigation, regulatory investigations, proceedings, or inquiries; the effects, extent, and timing of the entry of additional competition in the markets in which Southern Company's subsidiaries operate; variations in demand for electricity and natural gas; available sources and costs of natural gas and other fuels; limits on pipeline capacity; effects of inflation; the ability to control costs and avoid cost overruns during the development and construction of facilities, which include the development and construction of generating facilities with designs that have not been finalized or previously constructed; the ability to construct facilities in accordance with the requirements of permits and licenses, to satisfy any environmental performance standards and the requirements of tax credits and other incentives, and to integrate facilities into the Southern Company system upon completion of construction; investment performance of Southern Company's employee and retiree benefit plans and the Southern Company system's nuclear decommissioning trust funds; advances in technology; state and federal rate regulations and the impact of pending and future rate cases and negotiations, including rate actions relating to fuel and other cost recovery mechanisms; legal proceedings and regulatory approvals and actions related to Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4, including Georgia Public Service Commission approvals and Nuclear Regulatory Commission actions; actions related to cost recovery for the integrated coal gasification combined cycle facility under construction in Kemper County Mississippi; the ability to successfully operate the electric utilities' generating, transmission, and distribution facilities and Southern Company Gas' natural gas distribution and storage facilities and the successful performance of necessary corporate functions; the inherent risks involved in operating and constructing nuclear generating facilities; the inherent risks involved in transporting and storing natural gas; the performance of projects undertaken by the non-utility businesses and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; internal restructuring or other restructuring options that may be pursued; potential business strategies, including acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, which cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Southern Company or its subsidiaries; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from the acquisition of Southern Company Gas cannot be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected, the possibility that costs related to the integration of Southern Company and Southern Company Gas will be greater than expected, the ability to retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers, or other business partners, and the diversion of management time on integration-related issues; the ability of counterparties of Southern Company and its subsidiaries to make payments as and when due and to perform as required; the ability to obtain new short- and long-term contracts with wholesale customers; the direct or indirect effect on the Southern Company system's business or Southern Company Gas' business resulting from cyber intrusion or terrorist incidents and the threat of terrorist incidents; interest rate fluctuations and financial market conditions and the results of financing efforts; changes in Southern Company's and any of its subsidiaries' credit ratings; the impacts of any sovereign financial issues; the ability of Southern Company's subsidiaries to obtain additional generating capacity (or sell excess generating capacity) at competitive prices; catastrophic events such as fires, earthquakes, explosions, floods, hurricanes and other storms, droughts, pandemic health events such as influenzas, or other similar occurrences; the direct or indirect effects on the Southern Company system's business or Southern Company Gas' business resulting from incidents affecting the U.S. electric grid, natural gas pipeline infrastructure, or operation of generating or storage resources; and the effect of accounting pronouncements issued periodically by standard-setting bodies. Southern Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information.

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SOURCE Southern Company