The Miami Herald Business Briefs Column.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2000 The Miami Herald

Apr. 23--FPL, IBERDROLA RELATIONSHIP JUST DIDN'T SPARK: Power outages are routine events at Florida Power & Light, but when merger talks blacked out between FPL's parent company and Iberdrola SA of Spain, investors were shocked.

FPL Group's stock price bolted up to $48.50 last month when the rumors surfaced that FPL might be bought by Iberdrola, Spain's second-largest electric utility. It was a welcome wake-up call for FPL shareholders, whose stock had been in hibernation the past year.

Well, investors might as well crawl back into bed. Iberdrola's biggest shareholder, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, all but nixed the deal because Iberdrola would have to borrow too much money -- more than $10 billion -- to buy FPL. Analysts said Iberdrola merely needed FPL as shark repellent to...

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