More reports on: M&A, Power, GMR Group
Tata Power to buy stake in UK's InterGen from GMR Infra news
09 September 2010

Tata Power Co, India's largest private power producer, is in talks to acquire a majority stake in the UK-based power generator InterGen NV from GMR Infrastructure, which has a 50 per cent stake in that company, with a view to scaling up its global presence.

''We are talking to several companies including InterGen for a possible acquisition,'' chairman Ratan Tata told shareholders at the company's 91st annual general meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday.

InterGen, with generation capacity of over 6,300 MW, has power plants in UK, Netherlands, Mexico, Philippines and Australia, according to its website. Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure, which had bought its stake in InterGen from a fund owned by American International Group for $1.1 billion in 2008, has been looking for a buyer, as it is not satisfied with the growth of the company. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan holds the remaining stake.

Other bidders for the InterGen stake include China's biggest electricity producer, Huaneng Group.

Tata Power also plans to invest Rs70,000 crore to reach its targeted installed capacity of 25,000 MW by 2017, Ratan Tata said at the AGM. The company has an operational capacity of 2,977 MW, the largest for a private sector generator in the country.

The company recently bagged a 240 mw geothermal power project in Indonesia in consortium with Australia's Origin Energy and PT Supraco Indonesia.

The company also plans to venture into nuclear power when it is opened to the private sector and also into solar power, with plans to set up solar facilities with a capacity of 300 MW by 2013.

It has 200 MW of operating wind-power capacity in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka and has placed an order for 150 mw of additional capacity to be set up in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, according to a 12 August statement.

Among Tata Power's plants under construction is the 4,000 MW coal-based ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Mundra in Gujarat. ''About 60 per cent of the project is complete,'' Ratan Tata said.

Tata Power managing director Prasad Menon said the company has 5,570 MW in the construction phase, including the UMPP and the 1,050 MW plant at Maithon in Jharkhand.





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Tata Power to buy stake in UK's InterGen from GMR Infra