AES Corporation (AES)

The AES Corporation agreed on 1 March 2026 to be acquired by a group led by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Management and the EQT Infrastructure VI fund, which would take the company private 313.

Stockholders approved the merger on 26 June 2026, with 479,072,642 shares voting for it and 10,131,991 against 6.

The European Commission approved the deal without conditions on 15 October, and on 19 October the New York Public Service Commission ruled that it needs no further review 4. Ohio's utility regulator approved it on 17 September 5.

Other approvals remain, and the company has said it expects to close in late 2026 or early 2027 43.

Second-quarter 2026 revenue was $3,422 million, up $567 million, or 20 percent, from a year earlier 2.

Net income was $387 million, against a net loss of $150 million a year before, helped by energy derivatives and by fees for development services in the U.S. 2.

AES was founded in 1981 10. Its 2002 annual report described a global power company operating in 31 countries 10.

In 2002 its business had four lines: contract generation, competitive supply, large utilities and growth distribution 10. Large utilities revenue rose 91 percent to $3.1 billion that year, mostly because the company began counting the Brazilian utility Eletropaulo in its own results 10.

That year turned into a clean-up, and in July 2002 AES set up a restructuring office to fix, sell or abandon underperforming businesses 10. It took $2.3 billion of asset impairment charges, write-downs of what plants were judged to be worth, at Drax, Barry, Eletropaulo and CEMIG 10.

By the end of 2011 AES owned plants and utilities in 27 countries with about 44,200 MW of capacity 11. It had bought the Ohio utility DPL, now AES Ohio, on 28 November 2011 11.

That year the Maritza coal plant in Bulgaria started commercial operation 11. The company also said it would start a dividend in 2012 and narrow its geographic focus to fewer countries 11.

In 2018 the company paid down $1 billion of parent debt and signed long-term power contracts for 2 GW of capacity 12. It also agreed to sell about 48 percent of its interest in the operating portfolio of the sPower renewable developer 12.

It then said future growth would lean toward wind, solar and natural gas, and its battery storage venture with Siemens, Fluence, had delivered or been awarded 80 projects in 18 countries 12.

Fluence completed its stock market listing on 1 November 2021 1. AES sold AES Brasil in October 2024 and began a restructuring program in February 2025 that shrank its development company 1.

Revenue was flat in 2025 at $12,233 million, down $45 million, as a fall at Energy Infrastructure offset gains at Utilities and Renewables 1. Net income attributable to AES fell to $910 million from $1,679 million 1.

Utilities revenue rose $514 million, mostly from higher rates 1. Energy Infrastructure revenue fell $805 million, largely because the AES Andes portfolio moved into Renewables 1.

AES also booked a $264 million impairment at Maritza after its power contract was set to end, and the plant's contract expired in May 2026 17.

Renewables

The Renewables unit has 17,836 MW of operating capacity in ten countries and earned $2,913 million of revenue in 2025, up 11 percent 1.

The company says it is a leading provider of renewable energy to data center companies, particularly in the U.S. 1. Bellefield 1, a 500 MW California solar farm with 500 MW of storage, sells to Amazon 1.

Its backlog, projects with signed contracts that are not yet running, is 12.0 GW, including 5.7 GW under construction 1.

Utilities

Six utility businesses distribute power to 2.7 million customers, including AES Indiana and AES Ohio in the U.S. and four utilities in El Salvador 1.

Utilities revenue was $4,122 million in 2025, up 14 percent 1. AES Ohio filed for new base distribution rates covering 2027 through 2029, and AES Indiana filed a 20-year resource plan 1.

Energy Infrastructure

This unit runs gas, LNG, coal, pet coke, diesel and oil plants in nine countries with 12,705 MW of capacity 1. Its revenue was $5,402 million in 2025, down 13 percent 1.

Its largest plant is Mong Duong 2 in Vietnam, a 1,242 MW coal plant in which AES owns 51 percent 1.

New energy technologies and the fleet

AES holds a 28.19 percent economic interest in Fluence, the storage company it created in 2018 with Siemens AG, and also backs the Maximo solar installation robot 1.

By capacity, 54 percent of the fleet runs on renewables, 29 percent on natural gas and 15 percent on coal 1.

People and problems

AES had 8,336 full time employees at the end of 2025 1. Andrés Gluski is chief executive, and Ricardo Falú became President on 2 March 2026 133.

Bernerd Da Santos, who led the U.S. and renewables business, left on 14 September 2026 to join Fluence as chief operating officer 8.

The audit committee dismissed the auditor EY because SEC rules would not treat it as independent after the merger closes, and its report on internal controls as of 31 December 2024 carried an adverse opinion 9.

A 2016 sale agreement for Sul in Brazil drew a dispute over alleged damages, which produced a $39 million loss in 2025 1.

The umbrella, in words

AES Indiana is owned through IPALCO: AES owns 85 percent of AES U.S. Investments, which owns 82.35 percent of IPALCO, and the Canadian investor CDPQ holds about 30 percent in all 1.

AES Ohio is held through DPL, which sold about 30 percent of AES Ohio to a CDPQ subsidiary on 4 April 2025 1. In El Salvador AES owns 75 percent of CAESS, 80 percent of CLESA, 74 percent of DEUSEM and 89 percent of EEO 1.

The full subsidiary list is Exhibit 21.1 to the annual report 1. The buyer, Horizon Parent, is jointly controlled by funds managed by Global Infrastructure Management and the EQT Infrastructure VI fund 3.

The merger agreement says the buyer must use reasonable best efforts to win approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and others 3.

The company says the deal remains subject to additional regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions 4. It expects closing in late 2026 or early 2027 3.

Either side may end the agreement if it has not closed by 1 June 2027, a date that can be extended by two successive three-month periods 3.

The agreement sets termination fees: the buyer would owe the company $100 million or about $588 million in some cases, and the company would owe about $321 million in others 3.

The consortium would fund the full purchase with equity, and AES Indiana and AES Ohio would stay locally managed and regulated, Renewable Energy World reported 14.

Beyond the deal, the company says its 12.0 GW backlog of contracted projects is a core part of its growth, and 5.7 GW of it is under construction 1.

The company warned that a strong El Niño, a Pacific weather pattern that changes rainfall, is forecast for late 2026 into 2027 and has traditionally hit its markets 2.