Taqa invests in Caribbean

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has agreed to buy a 50 per cent stake in Marubeni Corporation's Caribbean power portfolio, Taqa said yesterday.

Taqa is 75 per cent owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi, and is one the vehicles used by the emirate to invest oil export revenues.

The purchase gives Taqa 1,150 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Curacao, the company said in a statement. It takes the total power generation assets Taqa holds worldwide to 11,650 MW.

A Taqa spokeswoman declined to give a value for the deal, which it expected to close at the end of the first quarter 2009.

Taqa will fund the deal through equity and debt, the company said. This is Taqa's first investment in the Caribbean, and follows several investments in North America. Taqa said the deal would provide a springboard for more investment in the region.


SCA approves 1O% buy-back

Taqa has received regulatory approval from Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to buy back as much as 10 per cent of its shares, according to a company statement.

SCA has allowed the company to buy back 622.5 million shares, comprising 10 per cent, from the market.

The board also had authorised an extension to the buyback period for another year if the company doesn't buy all the "required quantity of shares", the company had said in a statement.

The stock fell 3.5 per cent to Dh1.10 on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange yesterday, though it rallied 4.3 per cent last week.K

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