CDC Globeleq sells stake in Philippines power station
HOUSTON, 18 March 2004 – CDC Globeleq, the emerging markets power company, announced today that it had completed the sale of its 2.94 per cent minority investment in Sual, a 1,200 megawatt coal-fired power generation plant in the Philippines. The shares were sold back to the majority owner and operator of the plant, Mirant Philippines Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mirant Corporation (MIRKQ). Net proceeds from the transaction were approximately US$21 million.
"Divesting this minority investment is consistent with our strategy and business plan," said Robert C. Hart, President and CEO of CDC Globeleq. "As an operating power company we seek majority ownership or operational control of the power assets in which we invest. Sual was a successful financial investment, but did not fit our strategy. We were very pleased with our partnership with Mirant's Philippine operations on this project."
CDC Group plc, the sole shareholder of CDC Globeleq, invested in the Sual power project in 1997. A loan from CDC Group to the Sual project company remains unaffected by this transaction.
In June 2003, CDC Group divested its minority stake in Mirant's Pagbilao generating plant.
CDC Globeleq is the fastest growing power company in the emerging markets. In 2002 and 2003 the company acquired controlling ownership of more than 1,800 megawatts of generation capacity, reaching a total of over 2,300 megawatts in 22 projects in 17 countries. CDC Globeleq is actively pursuing additional acquisitions in Africa, the Americas and Asia.
Mirant Philippines Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mirant Corporation, owns more than 2,000 megawatts of installed generating capacity throughout the Philippines. It also owns a stake in the natural gas- fired 1,200-megawatt Ilijan generating plant located in the Quezon region of the Philippines.
Mirant's operations in the Philippines and the Caribbean were excluded from Chapter 11 filings of Mirant Corporation and most of its subsidiaries.
