Emera launches takeover of Barbados power utility
Published:Wednesday | December 22, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Emera Inc has launched a full takeover of Light & Power Holdings Limited with an offer on the stock market to acquire all outstanding shares, seven months after it first bought into the Barbados utility.
The offer through the Barbados Stock Exchange is priced at BDS$25.70 per share.
Emera, a Canadian energy company, already owns 38 per cent of LPH, which it bought in May from Leucadia National Corporation.
This purchase follows its majority acquisition in another Caribbean asset, Grand Bahama Power Company, in the first week of December when it bought out majority partner Marubeni Taqa Caribbean Limited. Emera paid US$82 million for the additional 55.4 per cent stake in Grand Bahama, pushing its share to 80.4 per cent control.
The offer for the Barbados utility shares opened Monday, December 20 and closes 35 days later on January 24.
Light & Power Holdings is the parent company of Barbados Light & Power Company Limited (BLPC), the country's sole power provider serving 120,000 customers.
BLPC has three power generation stations with 239 MW of installed capacity.
Emera, a C$5.8 billion company by assets, is also a 19-per-cent owner of St Lucia Electricity Services Limited, which serves more than 50,000 customers.
Grand Bahama has 19,000 customers.