Business
Emera Invests $22 Million in St. Lucia Electric Utility
Emera Invests $22 Million in St. Lucia Electric Utility.
About this update from Emera Incorporated
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nHALIFAX and CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Jan. 16 /CNW/ - (TSX - EMA): Emera Inc.\nhas invested US$22 million to acquire a 19% interest in St. Lucia Electricity\nServices Limited (Lucelec) from the Caribbean Basin Power Fund (CBPF). CBPF is\nmanaged by Energy Investors Funds, an American private equity fund manager.\n\n\n\"The Caribbean market has attractive growth prospects, and opportunities\nfor Emera to deploy its operational expertise,\" said Chris Huskilson,\nPresident and CEO of Emera. \"This modest investment gives us a low risk\nvehicle to assess whether there is broader business potential for us in the\nregion, and at the same time, provides attractive returns.\"\n\n\nLucelec is a vertically integrated electric utility serving more than\n50,000 customers, with exclusive license to generate, transmit and distribute\nelectricity on the island of St. Lucia to 2045. The utility has 66 MW of\ngenerating capacity, primarily oil fired, and 800 kilometers of electricity\ntransmission and distribution assets. Lucelec is a cost of service utility,\nwith a minimum rate of return of 10% on a 50% equity base.\n\n\nEmera will hold two seats on Lucelec's 11 member Board or Directors.\nOther significant investors in Lucelec include First Citizens Bank Limited,\nfrom Trinidad & Tobago, and locally the National Insurance Corporation, the\nCastries City Council, and the Government of St. Lucia. Lucelec common shares\ntrade on the Eastern Caribbean Stock Exchange under the symbol SLEC.\n\n\n\"We are pleased to have Emera on the team,\" said Marius St. Rose,\nChairman of the Board of Directors of St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited.\n\"As a strategic partner, their operational knowledge and expertise complements\nour skill set. Together we can capitalize on the growing opportunity that\neconomic development is bringing to our service territory.\"\n\n\nEmera expects to finance the acquisition using existing credit\nfacilities. The transaction is expected to close by January 19, 2007.\n\n\nForward Looking Information\n\n\nThis news release contains forward looking information. Actual future\nresults may differ materially. Additional financial and operational\ninformation is filed electronically with various securities commissions in\nCanada through the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval\n(SEDAR).\n\n\nAbout Emera Inc...