Search results for

Standard Bank is making a push into gas trading and has hired three traders and marketers to man the London-based desk.

A pair of acquisitive Canadian companies is believed to have reignited talks to acquire part or all of a 5,000 MW portfolio of generation assets in New England owned by PG&E Corp., according to distressed asset players. Brascan, a holding company with interests in power generation, real estate and the financial sector, and Emera, which owns regulated electric utility Novia Scotia Power, are thought to be close to reaching a deal with National Energy Group, the subsidiary of PG&E which owns the New England portfolio. Calls to PG&E's press office were not returned. A senior power banker at Lehman Brothers, which is advising on the sale, declined comment.

The 29-strong bank group that has taken ownership of Entergy's 800 MW Damhead Creek power plant in England (PFR, 1/6) hopes to restructure the roughly GBP400 million loan next month. A new non-recourse facility is being put in place to put the gas-fired plant's financing "back on an even keel where it can meet its repayment schedule and better prosper in the U.K.'s weak wholesale power market," notes one lender. The new loan is expected to be structured as a one-tranche deal, adds the lender.

Duke Energy has renewed $798 million in 364-day credit facilities at three subsidiaries and is looking to roll over another raft of loans maturing in June, July and August. "We've talked to the banks about all our facilities," says David Hauser, treasurer, who adds the tone of those talks has been positive. He told an investor conference call last week that the company has yet to pinpoint the dollar levels for the upcoming renewals.

Derek Gordon, global head of project finance at Abbey National Treasury Services in London, reportedly is set to leave the U.K. lender early next month. Gordon did not respond to calls, but market watchers says Gordon's decision to leave comes as little surprise as ANTS has decided to pull back from commercial lending and is presently determining how best to unwind its roughly GBP3.25 billion ($5.1 billion) global project loan portfolio (PFR, 12/9). It is unclear whether Gordon will be replaced.

Despite the emergence of financial players as one of the most active buyers of electricity assets over the past year, incumbent utilities are more concerned about the threat posed by the large oil companies making inroads into their markets. The concerns are revealed in PricewaterhouseCoopers' fifth annual Movers & Shakers survey of transatlantic utilities, published last week.

Four developers are set to bid for the Republic of Ireland's second large-scale IPP project in May, following the launch of a 300-513 MW tender process earlier this month.

Deutsche Bank has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to trade physically settled power contracts in the U.S. Bradley Blesie, a director at Deutsche Bank in London, says the German bank applied for the license at the end of March. "We're awaiting FERC approval and this could come in the next few weeks," he says. The move is likely to bring some cheer to the embattled U.S. power trading market, which has suffered a liquidity crunch following the scaling back of industry stalwarts, including most recently Duke Energy.

Panda Energy International, the privately-held Dallas IPP headed by entrepreneur Bob Carter, will use the $58 million proceeds from the sale of its interest in four generation projects to joint venture partner TECO Power Services to pay down all its outstanding debt. It is looking to wipe its debt slate clean as it switches strategy from being a power plant developer to an acquirer of distressed assets, explain bankers.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Washington, D.C. authority that regulates nationally chartered banks, has approved Bank of America's request to trade physically settled electricity contracts in the U.S.