TransCanada has announced that it expects to raise $3.7 billion from the sale of its US Northeast Power business, which includes over 4500 MW of generating capacity. TransCanada will sell 3950 MW located at four sites to Helix Generation, an affiliate of LS Power Equity Advisors for $2.2 billion, and 584 MW of hydroelectric facilities to Great River Hydro, an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners, for $1.065 billion, with the remainder attributed to TransCanada’s power marketing business. The transactions are expected to close in the first half of 2017, subject to certain regulatory and other approvals.
TransCanada plans to use the proceeds from the two sales to repay a portion of the loan credit facilities used to partially finance the Columbia Pipeline Group (Columbia) that was acquired earlier this year. The acquisition of Columbia created one of North America’s largest regulated natural gas transmission businesses.
LS Power will acquire the following four facilities: Ravenswood, a 2480 MW multiple unit combined cycle natural gas facility located in Queens, New York; Ironwood, a 778 MW natural gas combined cycle facility located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Ocean State Power, a 560 MW natural gas combined cycle facility located in Burrillville, Rhode Island; and Kibby Wind, a 132 MW wind farm located in Franklin County, Maine.
ArcLight’s acquisition of TransCanada’s New England hydroelectric power portfolio provides a combined capacity of 584 MW, and includes 13 facilities on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2017, subject to customary regulatory and other approvals.