Japan will buy Mexican power plant

Japan's Mitsui and Tokyo Gas is buying five power stations in Mexico for more than $1.2 billion from Spain's Gas Natural, the two companies said Thursday. 'Gas Natural today (Thursday) signed an agreement with the companies Mitsui & Co and Tokyo Gas to sell some of its assets for electricity generation in Mexico,' Barcelona- based Gas Natural said in a statement. The transaction is expected to be completed next year, it said. The total value of the assets 'is around $1.225 billion,' Gas Natural said, adding that it would receive an additional $240 million from the two companies in the form of debt repayments. The assets include five gas-fired power stations and a pipeline company. The power plants included in the deal have a total generation capacity of 2,233 megawatts and were bought by Gas Natural in 2007 from France's EDF. They were then valued at $1.448 billion. Mitsui and Tokyo Gas said in a joint statement that the deal would boost Mitsui's worldwide generating capacity to 5,558 megawatts and make it 'one of the largest independent power producers in the Mexican power market.' As part of the transaction Mitsui will establish an asset management company in Mexico 'to expand its power business throughout the Americas' and manage the new electricity generations assets, the statement added.