JEA announced Thursday it hired global financial firms J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC to assist in its move toward possible privatization.
The city-owned utility also said it contracted with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Foley & Lardner LLP as legal advisors to assist in the "competitive and open solicitation process."
The announcement comes two days after JEA’s board of directors voted to give CEO Aaron Zahn authority to explore methods of privatizing JEA, including becoming a privately held or investor-owned company; evaluating an initial public offering making JEA a publicly-traded company; or converting into a customer-owned utility.
JEA is the 10th-largest publicly owned energy utility in the United States and one of the largest water utilities.
