MMC indirect unit buys Aussie firm

Saturday June 29, 2013

MMC indirect unit buys Aussie firm

PETALING JAYA: MMC Corp Bhd's indirect subsidiary, Australia-based Malakoff Holdings Pty Ltd, has acquired the entire share capital of Meridian Wind Macarthur Holdings Pty Ltd (Meridian Holdings) from Meridian Energy Ltd for RM382.2mil.

The independent power producer (IPP) said in a statement to the stock exchange that Malakoff would hold a 50% stake in Macarthur Wind Farm following the acquisition. The other half is held by AGL Energy Ltd.

According to the announcement, Macarthur Wind Farm is the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia, with a generation capacity of 420MW, with 140 turbines of 3MW-rated power each.

“The wind farm was developed by Meridian and AGL through a 50:50 unincorporated joint venture and has been fully operational since it achieved its practical completion of the construction on Jan 31,” it said.

Meridian Holdings was incorporated in Australia on March 16, 2007 as a holding company, with a share capital of AU$174.33mil (RM509.6mil).

On the other hand, Malakoff Corp Bhd, a 51%-owned subsidiary of MMC, which, in turn, owns Malakoff Holdings Pty Ltd, has been stepping up investments in clean energy, signing an agreement with Norway's NBT AS a year ago to build a US$600mil (RM1.89bil) wind farm in Pakistan, wires reported.

The country's largest IPP also owns plants in Algeria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Locally, it owns power generation plant stations in Lumut, Prai and Tanjung Bin.

MMC said the acquisition would not have any material effect on its net assets per share, earnings per share and gearing for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2013.