RAPID CITY, SD — At a 10:30 am press conference this morning Black Hills Corp. and Northwestern Energy announced that they are preparing for a merger of the two utilities organizations, to be finalized over the next year.
“We are excited to bring our two highly complementary companies together to create significant long-term value for customers, employees, shareholders, and the communities we serve.” said Linn Evans in a press release prior to the announcement.
While this merger will not immediately take effect, estimates have been given by both companies that the process should take around 12-15 months total. Representatives from both organizations were quick to assure that this did not represent one company’s purchase of another, and that the organization planned to remain headquartered in the Black Hills.
While shareholders may be optimistic about a predicted increased growth rate, employees may be potentially cautious in this time however, as such mergers have become notorious for their layoffs generally. On this, Evans went on to say “When these transactions happen in this case a merger, there typically are some jobs that are duplicated. What we typically would do is both organizations try to accomplish any reduction of force through attrition. We have through retirements and other means”.
The name ‘Black Hills Energy’ will also be changing with the merger. The words ‘Black Hills’ has been part of the company for 143 years.