MENA Infrastructure Fund buys 32.8% of United Power

STAKE SALE: MENA Infrastructure Fund takes 32.8% stake in UPC after Oman's electricity regulator required GDF Suez to sell.

MENA Infrastructure Fund, the infrastructure equity fund sponsored by HSBC, Waha Capital and Dubai International Capital, has acquired 32.8% of United Power Company (UPC) for $26.5 million.

UPC is listed on the Muscat Securities Market, with 40% of its equity capital being publicly traded. MENA Infrastructure Fund meanwhile acquired its stake from GDF Suez, the French energy giant, via a competitive auction process, following a requirement by the Omani electricity regulator for GDF Suez to divest its shareholding in UPC.

As a result, MENA Infrastructure Fund now becomes the largest shareholder in UPC.

UPC owns and operates a 270 megawatt power station in Oman, the first independent power project to be developed in the Middle East with private sector participation.

The acquisition marks the Fund's second investment, having acquired an equity stake in Egypt's Alexandria International Container Terminals in 2008.

"This acquisition further establishes MENA Infrastructure Fund as a leading infrastructure investor in the region," said Mark Lemmon, CEO of the Fund.

"Oman has been a pioneer in the Middle East in achieving a significant role for the private sector in the country's utilities and infrastructure, and this transaction marks the first time that a pure financial investor has acquired an Omani infrastructure asset.
''Following on from the Fund's earlier investment in Alexandria Container Terminal, the UPC transaction delivers a healthy diversity of sector, geography, and business model for the Fund's investors."

MENA Infrastructure Fund, a $500 million infrastructure equity fund established in 2006, targets a broad range of investments within the infrastructure asset class, including utilities, transportation, social infrastructure and public private partnerships.

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