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InterGen's $426 million Magnolia construction loan opened for retail syndication last Wednesday, with leadsABN AMRO andCredit Lyonnais offering 50 and 35 basis points for commitments of $25 million and $15 million, respectively. The 10-year non-recourse loan, which funds construction of a 900 MW gas-fired plant near Memphis, Tenn., has 14 banks already committed following the wholesale round, which closed Dec. 9. (PFR, 12/23). "What ever they raise in retail is gravy," says one banker, referring to the strong commitment levels already in place.

Xcel Energy's plan to buy-out NRG Energy is likely to sharpen interest in NRG's $800 million corporate revolver that launched at a bank meeting last Wednesday. Initial upfront fees (PFR, 2/11) reflect the IPP's lower rating and even though NRG will remain a separately-rated entity, bankers looking at the deal are seeing an implicit upgrade. "You are taking triple-B minus risk and effectively converting it to triple-B," says one banker who is looking to write a commitment.

Minneapolis- basedXcel Energy is looking to consolidate its trading and marketing team with NRG Energy's operation, if the utility completes its planned takeover of the IPP (PFR, 2/4). But some observers think the cultural and technological issues that this will entail might impact trading, at least in the short term.

InterGen has postponed arranging and syndicating a $470 million non-recourse loan, which will be used to finance the construction of a $670 million natural gas-fired power plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil, until the first quarter of next year because of a delay in the state government's environmental permitting process. A project financier at InterGen in Coral Gables, Fla., says he expects the permitting issue to be resolved by the end of March, at which time it will hire a bank to advise on the financing. He declined further comment.

Lyle Miller, a managing director at Morgan Stanley in New York, also chose to compare utility mergers to courting. Miller told delegates European utilities might have an easier time wooing U.S. IOUs because as foreigners they seemed exotic to the incumbent players. At school the foreign exchange students may not have always been the prettiest girls, but they were certainly the most intriguing, joked Miller.

Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Energy is looking to build up its generation portfolio in Tennessee and expects to prosper from distressed selling in the region. Thomas Farrell II, ceo, told delegates that a lot of companies will shortly be looking to sell assets in the state and it hopes to pick up a few of these plants. A week earlier at the UBS Warburg utility conference in New YorkTom Caps, chairman, told PFR Dominion is involved in negotiations to acquire a coal-fired plant in Tennessee.

Power company executives, bankers and analysts gathered at Le Meridien Grovesnor House Hotelin London on Feb. 17-20 for the Edison Electric Institute's 3rd annual International Financial Conference. Executive Editor Victor Kremer and Managing EditorWill Aingerreport:

Endesa, Spain's largest electric utility, has scrapped plans to make any acquisitions in the U.S. power market and instead will focus on consolidating existing positions, according to equity analysts and bankers familiar with its global strategy. Market watchers say the move reflects Endesa's recent decision to cut back its expansion budget. "The company's balance sheet looks a bit stretched after acquisitions in Italy and France and it is now entering a period of consolidation," notes one London-based M&A banker.

Ontario Power Generation is looking to become one of the top 10 power generators in the U.S. and expects to meet this goal by making a slew of power plant acquisitions in the MAIN to Maine northeastern quadrant of the U.S., says Wayne Bingham, executive v.p. and cfo. The company plans to finance the push through the sale of part of its 26,000 MW Ontario generation portfolio. Utility analysts and industry data suggests that to become a top-10 U.S. generator OPG would need to acquire some 20 GW of capacity south of the border. Exelon, the largest generator in the U.S., has 44 GW of installed generation.

Enron is aggressively courting energy companies to find a potential buyer of Northern Natural Gas, the pipeline business it sold to Dynegy, says an executive familiar with its plans. Enron holds a call option that gives it the right to repurchase the pipeline from Dynegy at $1.5 billion plus the assumption of debt. Gary Cardone, president and ceo of Dynegy Europe, told delegates at a London utility conference last week that Enron is "shopping it pretty hard." He declined to elaborate, beyond saying it made sense for Enron to try to maximize the value from the asset.