A partial owner of Talen Energy Corp., which is the operator and a co-owner of Montana's Colstrip power plant, is seeking to buy the entire company for $1.8 billion.

Talen spokesman Todd Martin said Friday the planned acquisition by the investment firm Riverstone Holdings LLC will mean no immediate changes for Colstrip, whose future was already being questioned in a declining coal market and amid increasing regulations for coal-fired plants.

Talen Energy, which was formed last year, took over as Colstrip operator from PPL Montana. Rivestone and its affiliates already own more than a third of Talen's shares.

The two companies say they expect the deal to close by the end of the year.

Besides Colstrip, Talen owns or controls plants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Arizona and Maryland.

 

Reported by the Associated Press

 

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