AEP Puts QF Quartet On The Block
Aug. 25 (Power Finance & Risk)
American Electric Power is set to auction four U.S. gas-fired qualifying facilities in Florida and Colorado and has hired Credit Suisse First Boston to advise on the sale. The portfolio includes partial stakes in the 120 MW Mulberry and 103 MW Orange plants in Florida, and the 68 MW Brush II and 272 MW Thermo Cogen plants in Colorado, says Melissa McHenry, an AEP spokeswoman. El Paso, which owns the remaining interest in the Florida plants, is auctioning its interest via Banc of America Securities (PFR, 6/2).
One banker says AEP is launching the sale now to piggyback on El Paso Corp.'s efforts to sell its stake in the Mulberry and Orange QFs. Interested parties already have done due diligence on the Florida plants so it makes sense for AEP to launch a concurrent sale process, reasons the banker. He adds CSFB has yet to issue a sale memorandum.
AEP is in the midst of a year-long effort to divest non-core assets. It recently hired Westdeutsche Landesbank to shop a 600 MW natural gas-fired plant in Mexico (PFR, 8/18) and reportedly has retained Goldman Sachs to sell its Louisiana Interstate Gas (LIG) Pipeline (PFR, 7/28). The Columbus, Ohio-based company also is marketing a 4.5 GW portfolio of gas, coal, hydro and nuclear power plants in Texas via Credit Suisse First Boston. AEP recently announced it had pushed back the deadline for indicative bids on the 12-plant Texas fleet from July to August and was looking for final bids in October (PFR, 8/4 |
