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CIBC World Markets last month released Michael Casey, an executive director in the Canadian firm's New York investment banking group handling power and utilities. Paul Bradley, a Toronto-based executive director, says Casey's release was part of the company's recent restructuring effort and there are no plans to fill the vacancy. Bradley adds the Canadian bank will continue to cover the energy market from its headquarters in Toronto.

AIG Energy in Greenwich, Conn., has hired Tim Sullivan, managing director, responsible for restructuring power contracts at El Paso North America in Houston, in the new position where he will likely focus on restructuring IPP assets. Sullivan joins AIG on March 24 following in the footsteps of fellow El Paso alumnus Steven Pike, who joined the American International Group subsidiary last month (PFR, 2/3). Sullivan declined comment.

Lead arranger BNP Paribas has launched syndication of a $127 million, non-recourse loan earmarked to fund the construction of the Elina del Golfo transmission project in Mexico. Financing was sealed Feb. 24.Ralph Scholtz, managing director at BNP, says the bank is targeting a host of international and Mexican banks to commit to the deal, but declined to comment on its syndication strategy. Elina del Golfo is a special-purpose company sponsored by Buenos Aires contractorTechint Group,

Looking a long way down the road, some market officials believe lenders may be able to realize value on distressed merchant plants if they sign up offtake agreements on the assets and securitize those contracts. "It's possible," says Brad Nordholm, ceo at consultant Tyr Energy, who has been talking to banks about how to maximize the revenues from plants which sponsors have handed over control to lenders.

Power project developers and their financiers on both sides of the Atlantic are unlikely to remember 2002 with much affection. A combination of falling power prices and investor nervousness that the IPP market had overstretched itself in the preceding boom years made for an infertile environment for getting new generation projects off the ground. While dealflow was threadbare, a handful of power projects successfully navigated the choppy waters of last year's unparalleled energy bear market and sealed financing before year-end.

Following is a directory of ongoing generation asset sales. The accuracy of the information, which is derived from many sources, is deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed. To report new auctions or changes in the status of a sale, please call Will Ainger, managing editor, at (44-20) 7303-1735 or e-mail wainger@euromoneyplc.com .

Hamburgishe Landesbank and Lisbon-based Banco Espirito Santo were set to ink retail tickets late last week on InterGen's EUR625 million ($622 million) Rijnmond project financing. The pair are the first two banks to commit at the retail level since junior syndication was launched in December (PFR, 12/9). "It's been a struggle. The question now is do we close syndication now or wait for a couple more latecomers to finish their investment appraisal," notes one financier involved in the deal. He adds sluggish demand in the retail round vindicates the decision of BNP Paribas and Société Générale to sign up seven arrangers before sealing financing last November.

Madrid utility Iberdrola has begun courting banks to fund on a non-recourse basis roughly 400-600 MW of greenfield wind farm projects in central Spain. The cost of the project is likely to be north of EUR500 million ($552 million), says one Madrid banker. Local financiers pitching for the mandate say Iberdrola asked them to make preliminary responses two weeks back, but are unsure of when the utility will conclude the beauty parade. Javier Arrieta, the finance officer at Iberdrola conducting the tender, did not return calls.

Bonds Issue Date Maturity Issuer Amount ($ mil) Offer Price Type of Security Coupon(%) Spread to Bench Mark Moody's S&P Book Manager(s) 2/28/03 2/28/13 Citipower 182.6 99.851 FRNs Floats 70 NR AAA Nat'l Australian Bank/Barclays/Salomon 2/28/03 1/15/07 Citipower 60.9 99.837 Fxd/Straight Bd 5.5 99 NR A- Nat'l Australian Bank/Barclays/Salomon 2/28/03 1/15/07 Citipower 60.9 100 FRNs Floats 68 NR A- Nat'l Australian Bank/Barclays/Salomon 2/28/03 2/28/10 Citipower 106.5 99.178 Fxd/Straight Bd 5.75 94 NR AAA Nat'l Australian Bank/Barclays/Salomon 3/3/03 3/15/13 Dominion Resources 300 99.803 Senior Notes 5 136 Baa1 BBB+ Barclays/Salomon 3/3/03 3/15/33 Dominion Resources 300 99.971 Senior Notes 6.3 163 Baa1 BBB+ Barclays/Salomon 3/3/03 3/7/08 Kospo(KEPCO/South Korea) 150 99.622 Fxd/Straight Bd 4.25 160 A3 BBB+ Deutsche Bank/ABN AMRO 3/3/03 3/13/06 Finnish Power Grid(Fingrid) 25 100 FRNs Floats - Aa3 AA- Deutsche Bank 3/4/03 3/7/08 Hawaiian Electric 50 100 MTNs 4 137 Baa2 BBB Merrill/Goldman/Piper 3/4/03 3/7/13 Hawaiian Electric 50 100 MTNs 5.25 158 Baa2 BBB Merrill/Goldman/Piper 3/4/03 12/10/10 National Grid Company 396 99.233 Fxd/Straight Bd 4.75 - A2 A Barclays/CSFB 3/5/03 3/15/34 Union Electric 184 98.883 Fst Mtg Bonds 5.5 90 A1 A- Bank of New York/JP Morgan M&A Date Announced Date Effective Target Name Target Advisors Target Country Acquiror Name Acquiror Advisors Acquiror Country Deal Value ($mil) 2/27/03 - BLCP Power - Thailand Ratchaburi Electricity - Thailand - 2/27/03 - CMS Viron - U.S. Pepco Energy Services - U.S. - 2/27/03 - Maritza East III - Bulgaria Enel - Italy - 2/27/03 - Tri Energy - Thailand Ratchaburi Electricity - Thailand - Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data Company. For more information, call Rich Peterson at (973) 645-9701.

The Comision Federal de Electricidad, Mexico's national power company, expects to award the mandate to construct and operate a 750 MW hydroelectric plant on the Pacific Coast this Friday. Eugenio Laris Alanis, director of new projects at the CFE, says the $800 million El Cajon hydro project consists of the construction of a power plant and dam on Mexico's Santiago River. Alanis declined to reveal which developers are in the running to land the project, but notes that a number of Mexican and Brazilian firms have submitted proposals.