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U.K. utility Innogy has bid for Enron's stake in the 1,875 MW Teesside gas-fired power station in northeast England. "It's an opportunity for us to add to our portfolio, and the stake comes with the right to operate it too," says an Innogy spokesman. The utility has a long-term contract to buy 400 ME of Teesside's capacity at prices well out of the money (Reuters, 2/12).

TransAlta received the go-ahead from provincial regulators to proceed with its CAD1.8 billion Keephills generation plant expansion. The two 450 MW coal-fired units proposed for the existing Keephills plant, 70 km west of Edmonton, Alberta, face future investment in new technology on account of stricter emission standards. TransAlta had already said the project could be delayed for a year while it evaluates market and regulatory conditions (Dow Jones, 2/12).

An internal Enron document indicates that former Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay had a direct role approving deals with at least one of the company's controversial executive-run partnerships. The document is a deal-approval sheet from June 2000 that appears to be signed by Lay. In interviews in recent months, Lay and his wife have said he wasn't fully informed about the operations of the partnerships (Wall Street Journal, 2/12).

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking a deal with a former senior accountant at Enron to obtain his testimony against top executives at the company, according to lawyers familiar with the criminal investigation. The accountant, Ben Glisan, was at the center of almost all questionable transactions between Enron and the off-balance-sheet partnerships created by Andrew Fastow, former cfo, which are believed to be the focus of the Justice Department inquiry (Financial Times, 2/14).

Two Enron executives criticized in an internal report for failing to properly oversee the fallen company's finances want to resign so they can prepare for coming legal fights, according to one of their attorneys. Richard Causey, chief accounting officer and Richard Buy, chief risk officer are under contract to the Houston-based energy trading firm and must negotiate their way out, said lawyer J.C. Nickens (Reuters, 2/11).

South Carolina Electric & Gas is using the $300 million it recently raised in first-mortgage bonds to pay down short-term debt used to upgrade its Urquhart plant, and also to take out older higher-coupon debt. SCE&G is converting the 150 MW coal-fired Urquhart facility to a 450 MW natural gas-fired plant, says John Winn, manager of investor relations. The 6.625% coupon bonds will also pay down $150 million in an 8.875% series, due 2021. The switch to a lower coupon required the company to fork out a premium of 3.79% for the early redemption, he adds.

Electricité de France and Mitsubishi have selected Citibank and Fuji Bank to lead a $200 million non-recourse loan for the construction of Altamira (495 MW), a combined-cycle gas turbine plant in northeastern Mexico, says a project banker involved in the financing. The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation will act as a senior co-arranger. The financier says syndication should close by the end of next month, but declined to name the banks approached or comment on fees, pricing, or tenor.

Southern Co. Capital Funding, a financing division of Atlanta-based Southern Co., upsized a recent bond offering by $100 million to $400 million to take advantage of attractive interest rates and allow it to pay down more of its $928 million commercial paper program, says Karen Anderson, an associate director at Fitch in Chicago.

A consortium of companies including Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, Alcoa Aluminum, and Camargo Correa have selected Citibank to arrange $700 million in non-recourse financing for the construction of Santa Isabel, a 1,087 MW hydroelectric plant in northeast Brazil. A financier familiar with the transaction says discussions regarding pricing, structure and tenor of the transaction are still at a preliminary stage.

Bonds Date Maturity Issuer Amount ($mil) Price Type of Security Coupon (%) Moody's S&P Book Manager(s) 01/31/02 01/31/04 Luz del Sur 9.5 Market Bonds 6.438 - - Citicorp Peru 02/05/02 12/30/31 MidAmerican Energy 400 98.857 Sr Unsecurd Nts 6.75 A3 A- CSFB 02/05/02 02/09/04 Pinnacle West Capital 215 99.865 Notes 4.5 Baa2 BBB JPM M&A Date Announced Date Effective Target Name Target Country Acquiror Acquiror Country Value ($mil) 01/31/02 - NVS Nordiska Varme Sana Sweden Investor Group Sweden 40.359 01/31/02 - Zhangzhou Jinfong Water Supply China DKLS Venture Sdn Bhd Malaysia - 02/05/02 02/05/02 Aguas de Lilen Chile Esval Chile 0.797 Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data Company. For more information, call Rich Peterson at (973) 645-9701.