Hong Kong bid for wind farms

From The Sunday Times
June 28, 2009

Danny Fortson

ASIA’S richest man could inject £150m into Centrica, the owner of British Gas.
Li Ka-shing, whose empire spans property and shipping to retail and the internet, is considering bidding for a stake in Centrica’s newly-operational wind farm at Lynn and Inner Dowsing, off the Lincolnshire coast. Sam Laidlaw, Centrica chief executive, is seeking new sources of cash for his global buying spree, snapping up gas fields that are relatively cheap after last year’s fall in the oil price. The wind farm, the largest in the world, is one of Centrica’s most bankable assets.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi has been hired to raise £350m of debt against the project, while Credit Suisse has begun an auction for a 50% equity stake that could fetch up to £150m.
Li Ka-shing’s Hongkong Electric is one of four bidders in the auction. The others are American private equity giant KKR, RREEF, Deutsche Bank’s infrastructure arm, and Datang International Power Generation, a Chinese utility.

Earlier this month, Centrica agreed to pay about $800m (£485m) for a slice of a new gas development in Trinidad. The Takeover Panel, meanwhile, has given the British Gas owner a “put-up or shut-up” deadline of July 13 to bid for Venture Production, in which it has a stake.