El Paso Sale of Assets May Signal More Deals
El Paso Corp.’s plans to announce by early next week the sale of its U.S. power plants may signal an active market for such assets next year, as financiers snap up properties from cash-strapped energy companies.
This year, 134 plants with 17,200 megawatts of capacity have changed hands, up from 55 plants and 8,500 megawatts in 2002, according to Bodington & Co., which tracks such transactions. Sales were still below the record 198 plants and 51,800 megawatts in 2000, when utilities sold off power stations as U.S. and state deregulation laws took effect.
Houston-based El Paso plans to sell $3.9 billion in assets by the end of 2005 to help reduce its $24 billion in debt and focus on its most profitable businesses, including the largest U.S. network of natural-gas pipelines.
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