New York, January 6, 2026, 06:10 EST — Premarket
- Vistra shares rose 4.4% in premarket trading after it agreed to buy Cogentrix Energy.
- The deal adds about 5.5 gigawatts of natural gas generation capacity across key U.S. power markets.
- Vistra said the acquisition should lift per-share cash flow starting in 2027, with closing expected in mid-to-late 2026.
Vistra shares were up 4.4% at $170.17 in premarket trading on Tuesday after the U.S. power producer said it would buy Cogentrix Energy from Quantum Capital Group in a deal valued at about $4.7 billion.
The purchase lands as investors sharpen their focus on electricity supply, with data centers racing to support artificial intelligence workloads pushing demand higher across the U.S. grid. The Energy Information Administration has forecast U.S. power consumption will hit record highs in 2026.
For Vistra, the deal is another bet that owning dispatchable generation — plants that can run when the grid needs them — will command a premium as large customers seek steadier power. It also widens Vistra’s footprint in competitive power regions where prices can swing with weather and demand.
Vistra said the transaction includes about $2.3 billion in cash and roughly $900 million in stock, plus the assumption of about $1.5 billion of Cogentrix debt, with expected tax benefits offsetting part of the cost. The company put the net purchase price at about $4.0 billion.
The Cogentrix portfolio comprises 10 natural gas generation facilities totaling about 5,500 megawatts across PJM, ISO New England and ERCOT — regional power markets that cover the Mid-Atlantic, parts of the Northeast and Texas. Many of the plants are combined-cycle units, which use a gas turbine and steam turbine to generate electricity more efficiently than older designs.
“The addition of this natural gas portfolio is a great way to start another year of growth,” Vistra CEO Jim Burke said. Reuters
Vistra said the acquisition is expected to be accretive — meaning it should boost cash flow per share — by a mid-single-digit rate in 2027, with high single-digit accretion on average over 2027-2029. The company said the net price implies about 7.25 times expected 2027 adjusted EBITDA, a profit proxy, and about $730 per kilowatt of capacity.
The move follows Vistra’s earlier purchase of seven gas-fired plants in 2025, as U.S. power generators chase supply in markets where data-center load growth is reshaping long-term demand forecasts. That scramble has also kept attention on other competitive power producers tied to those regions.
Still, the upside is not guaranteed. The deal requires regulatory approvals, and returns will hinge on power-price spreads, gas costs and how quickly large-load demand materializes — variables that can shift sharply with weather, policy and the pace of data-center buildouts.
