MMC subsidiary Malakoff pays $650m for 50pc of Macarthur wind farm
by: Gillian Tan From: The Wall Street Journal June 28, 2013 1:00PM
MALAYSIA'S Malakoff, a subsidiary of MMC, has agreed to a $650 million deal to buy a stake in an Australian wind farm from Meridian Energy, a person familiar with the matter said.
Malakoff will acquire Meridian's 50 per cent interest in the Macarthur wind farm in the southern state of Victoria, which is operated by AGL Energy. AGL also owns the remaining stake.
New Zealand's Meridian and AGL set up a joint venture in 2010 to develop the wind farm, which comprises 140 turbines generating 420 megawatts of electricity--enough to power 220,000 homes.
Clean energy generated at the site is equivalent to taking more than 420,000 cars off the road, according to the Macarthur project's website.
Macquarie Capital advised Meridian on the sale, while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group advised Malakoff.
Malakoff - Malaysia's largest independent power producer - owns power plants in Algeria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. It's been stepping up investments in clean energy, signing an agreement with Norway's NBT a year ago to build a $US600 million wind farm in Pakistan.
Last July, the company delayed its proposed $US1.5 billion initial public offering. MMC is controlled by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, one of the country's richest men, who also owns majority stakes in auto maker Proton and gas supplier Gas Malaysia.
Meridian, which has an estimated value of more than $US5 billion, is making plans for its own IPO, having appointed Macquarie Capital, Goldman Sachs Group and Deutsche Bank to manage the sale of up to 49 per cent of the company's equity by the year end.
