NRG refuses Exelon takeover offer

PRINCETON, N.J., July 10 (UPI) -- New Jersey-based power-generation company NRG Energy rejected a modified takeover bid from rival Exelon but welcomed future negotiations.

Exelon has moved since October to acquire NRG Energy and raised its latest offer 12 percent to $7 billion.

"The board unanimously has rejected your proposal as it determined that the revised offer is not in the best interest of NRG stockholders in that it continues to substantially undervalue NRG," the company said in a letter to Exelon.

While NRG flatly rejected the offer, it said the increased bid "certainly represents a step in the right direction."

NRG cites its deal to purchase a Texas subsidiary of Reliant Energy as contributing to the demands for more money, though Exelon complains that value is difficult to determine without viewing confidential corporate information.

David Crane, NRG president and chief executive officer, told the Financial Times the Exelon bid set a false bottom on the value of his company.

"The problem is that Exelon's bid is pitched at such a low level that any other bidder was going to use that as a basis for their own bid," he said.

NRG may consider the matter at its next shareholder meeting scheduled for July 21.