British Group to Buy Niagara Mohawk

National Grid Group, owner of the power transmission network in England and Wales, agreed to buy Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. for $3 billion in cash and stock, continuing an expansion into the U.S. market. National Grid will pay $19 a share for the New York utility owner, 47% more than Thursday’s closing price. It will pay about $1 billion in cash and $2 billion in stock and will assume $5.9 billion in debt. With their profits limited by government-imposed price cuts at home, power producers in Britain have spent about $25 billion on U.S. purchases in the last two years. National Grid will merge Niagara Mohawk with two Massachusetts utilities it bought this year, New England Electric System and Eastern Utilities Associates. Shares of Syracuse, N.Y.-based Niagara Mohawk rose $1.88 to close at $15.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.