Spain’s Gas Natural buys five Mexican plants

26 October 2007

BARCELONA – (EFE).- Spain’s Gas Natural said it signed an agreement with France’s EDF to acquire five combined-cycle power plants and a pipeline in Mexico in a deal worth some $1.45 billion and expected to close later this year.

The deal, which still requires regulatory clearance, opens the way for the Spanish company’s entry into Mexico’s electricity market.

Gas Natural said the agreement signed Thursday was for the purchase from EDF of four combined-cycle power plants in Mexico and the 54-kilometer (34-mile) pipeline that supplies those operations.

The agreement also covers the purchase of the 51 percent and 49 percent stake that EDF and Mitsubishi have respectively in another gas-fired plant, also in Mexico.

Also included in the accord is the purchase from EDF of Comego, a company that provides services and support to the plants.

The five power plants have an installed capacity of 2,233 MW, meaning that the Spanish group would become the second-largest privately owned electricity generator in the country and the only private company with gas and electricity operations in Mexico.

Gas Natural CEO Salvador Gabarro said the deal was the “most important assets purchase in the company’s history” and is “another example of our commitment to invest in Mexico’s energy sector.”

The firm is acquiring the 495 MW Anahuac (Rio Bravo II) power plant, the 495 MW Lomas del Real (Rio Bravo III) facility, the 500 MW Valle Hermoso (Rio Bravo IV) power plant, the 495 MW Electricidad Aguila Altamira power plant and the 248 MW Saltillo facility, which have long-term agreements for the sale of power to Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE.

Through its Gas Natural Mexico unit, the Spanish company is the leading natural gas distributor in the Latin American country. EFE

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Subject: Spanish news