Interenergy Holdings acquire power plants in Jamaica and Panama
InterEnergy Holdings has purchased interests in two companies owned by Latin Power III, a US$392 million private equity fund managed by Conduit Capital Partners.
InterEnergy purchased Latin Power III’s 55% ownership in Pedregal, a 55MW diesel plant based in Pacora, Panama. InterEnergy also purchased Latin Power III’s 100% interest in Jamaica Energy Partners and West Kingston Power Partners, which are based in Kingston, Jamaica and collectively operate three plants with 190 MW of diesel capacity which supply 30% of the electricity on the island of Jamaica. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The acquisition marks InterEnergy’s return to Jamaica after a six-year hiatus. Its predecessor, Basic Energy Ltd., owned and operated Jamaica Energy Partners from 2007 to 2009. With the transaction InterEnergy also reiterates its commitment to Panama, where it is in the final stages of construction of a 215MW project, the Laudato Sí wind farm, the largest of its kind in Central America, where it invested over $430 million.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius represented InterEnergy. Conduit was advised by BNP Paribas, and Chadbourne & Parke was US counsel.
George Osorio, Conduit’s Managing Partner stated:
“The sale of these highly performing plants in Jamaica and Panama is consistent with our commitment to maximize value for our investors. The next stage of our process will be the sale of our operating renewable plants (a 35 MW hydro and 22 MW wind power plant) in Mexico which will begin in the coming months.”
Jamaica Energy Partners was among the first independent power plants (IPPs) in Jamaica. Conduit also invested in the first IPPs in Colombia, Honduras and Peru, the first private hydro in Mexico and the first private natural gas pipeline built for Pemex in Mexico. In total, Conduit has made 36 investments in 11 countries in the region.
Conduit’s Chairman, J. Scott Swensen, stated:
“The success of our Jamaican investments is a great example of the value Conduit was able to bring to the region over the last 22 years. By using its project finance skills and development expertise, the Conduit team was able to construct new generation to deal with power shortages in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Key to this success was the contribution from our excellent local management teams which consistently sought ways to create value with us.”
Rolando Gonzalez Bunster, InterEnergy’s Chairman, added:
“This transaction demonstrates InterEnergy’s commitment to growing our presence in markets where we already have a footprint, and also confirms our strategy of growing into new markets and diversifying our portfolio. Both Jamaica and Panama are of significant importance to InterEnergy as we continue to build one of the leading energy groups in Latin America and the Caribbean. We believe both markets will continue to generate investment opportunities, and we believe that we are better positioned than ever to take advantage of these opportunities.”
