ALLETE, Inc. (ALE)

ALLETE, Inc. was an energy company headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota. It was founded in 1906 as Minnesota Power and Light and used the name ALLETE from 2001. The company's largest business was Minnesota Power, a regulated electric utility serving customers in northeastern Minnesota, including large industrial users in taconite mining, paper and pipelines.

Regulated operations also included Superior Water, Light and Power in Superior, Wisconsin, which served electric, natural gas and water customers, and the American Transmission Company interest in the upper Midwest. ALLETE Clean Energy developed, owned and operated wind and other renewable projects across several states. The company also had smaller operations in coal mining in North Dakota and real estate in Florida.

ALLETE shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALE. The company converted Minnesota Power's generation mix away from coal over the years under its Energy Forward plan, adding wind, solar and storage, and invested in transmission and system upgrades.

In May 2024 ALLETE announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by a consortium of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of BlackRock, for $67.00 per share in cash. The deal was valued at about $6.2 billion including debt. The buyers committed to maintaining local management and headquarters.

The transaction needed regulatory approvals in Minnesota, Wisconsin and federally. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission gave final approval in October 2025, after earlier review and a revised settlement with customer benefits, including a rate freeze and rate credits.

ALLETE had also been preparing for large capital spending on transmission, wind and solar generation, and on retiring coal units at Minnesota Power, which requires access to financing that the owners said they could provide. Beyond the take-private price, the transaction was shaped by the regulatory conditions common in utility deals. Minnesota regulators reviewed whether the transaction served the public interest and emphasized customer protections, reliability and local control. The parties negotiated customer commitments during the review process. ALLETE continued to operate Minnesota Power as a regulated utility, and the owners committed capital for grid upgrades and renewable generation.

The acquisition closed on December 15, 2025, with trading suspended before the NYSE opened that day and a Form 25 filed. ALLETE became a privately held company, and its common shareholders were entitled to $67.00 per share in cash.