Sempra brings investor to Mexico’s LNG
US-based utility Sempra Energy said April 5 its collaboration with investment firm KKR would help stimulate its Mexican footprint in LNG.
Sempra said it sold a 20% stake in its new business platform, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, to KKR for $3.37bn in cash. Sempra said the deal is part of an effort launched in December to put its non-utility infrastructure under one roof, combining the infrastructure from its own LNG company, Sempra LNG, and IEnova, its natural gas infrastructure subsidiary in Mexico.
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“Combining our resources with KKR improves our ability to capture new investment opportunities in cleaner forms of energy and the critical infrastructure that stores and transports it," Sempra Energy CEO Jeffrey Martin said.
KKR under the terms of the agreement gains an indirect interest in IEnova. Calling it a new business platform, Sempra said the assets covered in the sale include an LNG portfolio of some 45mn mt/yr of export capacity, a renewable energy profile of some 4GW in development or operation in Mexico, and gas infrastructure connected to the United States.
IEnova took a final investment decision in mid-November on the first phase of its Energia Costa Azul (ECA) LNG project on Mexico's Pacific coast.
“This infrastructure platform provides a strong foundation to expand cleaner energy resources across the continent,” Raj Agrawal, the head of global infrastructure at KKR, said.