SAN DIEGO, Sept. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its equity interests in its Peruvian businesses, including its 83.6% stake in Luz del Sur S.A.A. (Luz del Sur), to China Yangtze Power International (Hongkong) Co., Limited (CYP). Sempra Energy's interests will be sold for $3.59 billion in cash, subject to closing adjustments for working capital and net indebtedness.
"We could not be more pleased about today's announcement," said Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy. "It directly supports our mission of building North America's premier energy infrastructure company. Proceeds from this transaction will be used to strengthen our balance sheet and meet the growing capital needs of our core utilities in California and Texas."
The sale will also include Sempra Energy's interest in Tecsur S.A., which provides electric construction and infrastructure services to Luz del Sur and third parties, and Inland Energy S.A.C., Luz del Sur's generation business.
The sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by the Peruvian anti-trust authority and the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
An active sales process continues for Sempra Energy's electric businesses in Chile, including the company's 100% stake in Chilquinta Energía S.A. and Tecnored S.A. The company expects to announce an agreement in the fourth quarter of this year.
BofA Merrill Lynch and Lazard are serving as financial advisors to Sempra Energy on the sale, and White & Case is serving as legal advisor.
Sempra Energy also announced today that its subsidiary Sempra LNG has entered into a memorandum of understanding with China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), the ultimate parent company of CYP, regarding potential cooperation in supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to support demand growth in China, including the growth of natural gas power generation. Ultimate participation remains subject to finalization of a definitive agreement, among other factors.
"This initial agreement with CTG represents an opportunity to support strong growth in natural gas demand in Asia, with future expansions of our LNG projects right here in North America," said Martin.
Luz del Sur serves the southern region of Lima, Peru, and is the largest electric company in the country.
CYP is a subsidiary of China Yangtze Power Co., which is the largest publicly listed power company in China with a market capitalization of approximately $58 billion. China Yangtze Power Co. engages in electric power production, technological consultation of electric power generation and selected distribution services.
Sempra Energy's mission is to be North America's premier energy infrastructure company. With more than $60 billion in total assets reported in 2018, the San Diego-based company is the utility holding company with the largest U.S. customer base. The Sempra Energy companies' more than 20,000 employees deliver energy with purpose to approximately 40 million consumers worldwide. The company is focused on the most attractive markets in North America, including California, Texas, Mexico and the LNG export market. Sempra Energy has been consistently recognized for its leadership in diversity and inclusion, and sustainability, and is a member of the S&P 500 Utilities Index and the Dow Jones Utility Index.
This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "assumes," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "outlook," "maintain," or similar expressions or when we discuss our guidance, strategy, plans, goals, vision, mission, opportunities, projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.
Factors, among others, that could cause our actual results and future actions to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating to: the possibility that, in connection with the agreement to sell Sempra Energy's interests in its Peruvian businesses, including its 83.6% interest in Luz del Sur, the closing conditions may not be satisfied or waived in a timely manner or at all, including that a governmental entity may prohibit, delay or refuse to grant a necessary regulatory approval, that we may be subject to indemnification obligations, and that we may be unable to fully realize the anticipated benefits; the greater degree and prevalence of wildfires in California in recent years and the risk that we may be found liable for damages regardless of fault, such as where inverse condemnation applies, and risk that we may not be able to recover any such costs in rates from customers in California or otherwise, including due to insufficient amounts in the wildfire fund; actions and the timing of actions, including decisions, investigations, new regulations and issuances of permits and other authorizations and renewal of franchises by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), California Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Public Utility Commission of Texas, states, cities and counties, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate; the success of business development efforts, construction projects, and major acquisitions, divestitures and internal structural changes, including risks in (i) obtaining or maintaining authorizations; (ii) completing construction projects on schedule and budget; (iii) obtaining the consent of partners; (iv) counterparties' ability to fulfill contractual commitments; (v) winning competitively bid infrastructure projects; (vi) the ability to complete contemplated acquisitions and/or divestitures and the disruptions caused by such efforts; and (vii) the ability to realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts once completed; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation, regulatory investigations and proceedings, and arbitrations; actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or those of our subsidiaries or to place those ratings on negative outlook and our ability to borrow at favorable interest rates; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; denial of approvals of proposed settlements; delays in, or denial of, regulatory agency authorizations to recover costs in rates from customers or regulatory agency approval for projects required to enhance safety and reliability; and moves to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; the availability of electric power and natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the transmission grid, limitations on the withdrawal or injection of natural gas from or into storage facilities, and equipment failures; expropriation of assets, the failure to honor the terms of contracts by foreign governments and state-owned entities such as the CFE, and other property disputes; risks posed by actions of third parties who control the operations of our investments; weather conditions, natural disasters, accidents, equipment failures, computer system outages, explosions, terrorist attacks and other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires and subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries, fines and penalties, some of which may not be covered by insurance (including costs in excess of applicable policy limits), may be disputed by insurers or may otherwise not be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, storage and pipeline infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our businesses, and the confidentiality of our proprietary information and the personal information of our customers and employees; actions of activist shareholders, which could impact the market price of our securities and disrupt our operations as a result of, among other things, requiring significant time by management and our board of directors; changes in capital markets, energy markets and economic conditions, including the availability of credit; volatility in currency exchange, interest and inflation rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge the risk of such volatility; the impact of federal or state tax reform and our ability to mitigate adverse impacts; changes in foreign and domestic trade policies and laws, including border tariffs and revisions to or replacement of international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, that may increase our costs or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; the impact at San Diego Gas & Electric Company on competitive customer rates and reliability of electric transmission and distribution systems due to the growth in distributed and local power generation and from possible departing retail load resulting from customers transferring to Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation or other forms of distributed and local power generation and the potential risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets and contractual obligations; Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC's (Oncor) ability to eliminate or reduce its quarterly dividends due to regulatory capital requirements and other regulatory and governance commitments, including the determination by a majority of Oncor's independent directors or a minority member director to retain such amounts to meet future requirements; and other uncertainties, some of which may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra Energy has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.
SOURCE Sempra Energy
