Scottish & Southern Energy To Become Ireland’s Third Largest Energy Company

PUBLISHED: Jun 15 2012 @ 08:31 | Comments (0) | More info about Kenneth G. Mondero

Britain’s Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE:SSE) will become the third largest energy company in Ireland when it completes the acquisition of four power stations with a total combined capacity of 1,068 Megawatts later this summer.

Information disclosed to the public on Friday revealed that SSE has reached an agreement with Spain’s largest utility company Endesa Generacion S.A. to acquire Endesa Ireland Limited for €320 million (£256 million).

The deal came a month after SSE acquired the gas supply business Phoenix Supply Limited, also operating in Ireland, for an undisclosed amount.

“The completion of this acquisition and of the Phoenix acquisition we announced in May will make SSE the third largest energy company across the island of Ireland,” SSE’s Finance Director Gregor Alexander stated.

Major Player

In addition to the four power stations, SSE will also acquire the 460 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) currently under construction at Great Island, off Cork City, in County Cork.

The new CCGT is expected to be commissioned in 2014, during which time SSE will have incurred an estimated €125 million (£100 million) capital expenditure for its construction, which, together with the value of the sale of the issued shares of Endesa Ireland and the €43 million (£34 million) working capital, puts the total investment of SSE at €488 million (£390 million).

SSE’s total investment in Ireland will now reach €1.7 billion, including the acquisition of Airtricity in 2008, Mr. Alexander noted.

“We’ve gone from nothing to being a major player in that economy in the last four and a half years,” Ian Marchant, Chief Executive Officer of SSE, said in an interview. “This deal really does round off our business in Ireland.”

Company Spotlight

Scottish & Southern Energy is a leading power generation company in the United Kingdom with more than 11,000 megawatts of electricity generation capacity from power stations, hydro-electric schemes, and wind farms.

Trading on the London Stock Exchange since 1991, shares of SSE dropped 24 pence, or 1.7% of yesterday’s close, to £13.68 at 2:30 PM GMT.

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