ITD sells Nam Theun stake

The SET-listed contractor Italian-Thai Development Plc is selling half of its 20% shareholding in the Nam Theun 2 hydropower plant in Laos to Egco Group Plc and the rest to Electricite de France.

The deal would increase Egco’s holding in the plant to 35% from 25% and EDF’s stake to 40% from 30%, with the Laotian government holding the remaining 25%.

Nam Theun 2, with a capacity of 1,100 megawatts, started operating in May and has been selling 960 MW of electricity to Thailand and the rest to Laos.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) had considered investing in Nam Theun 2 but decided to let Egco, an affiliate that the state enterprise spun off and listed on the stock market a decade ago, make the investment instead.

The state utility’s overseas investment arm, Egat International Co, is continuing with plans for other investments including hydropower plants in Laos and Burma.

Egat International is now constructing the Nam Ngieb hydropower plant in Laos and high-voltage transmission lines worth 2.87 billion baht from Nabong in Laos to Udon Thani in Thailand. It is also preparing the site for the construction of the 44-billion-baht Hudgyi hydropower plant in Burma.

“Apart from these projects, we are negotiating to invest in more power plant projects in the future,” said an Egat executive.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/199290/itd-sells-nam-theun-stake