Landmark TXU Environmental Buyout A Go

The largest shareholder of TXU Corp. has reversed course and thrown its support behind the planned buyout of the power company -- a move that clears the way for a landmark environmental deal.

The announcement in February that private equity investors led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. would scrap TXU's plans to build eight coal-fired power plants using outdated technology if the company sold itself was greeted with fanfare befitting such an unprecedented move in a greener direction.

After all, here was Wall Street investment clearly making a statement that old, polluting technology was not an investment at all. The way forward, when it comes to energy, has to be cleaner, greener and more renewable.

Earlier this month, the deal was in suspect because Franklin Resources and other investors said they wanted more cash for the deal. Today, The Dallas Morning News reports that the investor is changing stance -- possibly because of the sudden trouble in the U.S. credit market.

That credit slump will have all sorts of ripples in the economy, as buyouts and mergers will struggle to go to completion -- but in this case, it could save one of the best environmental business moves in years.

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