Asian firms prospecting Alinta Energy purchase

AUSTRALIA – Australian gas and electricity retailer Alinta Energy is starting to draw interest from Asian companies including MalakoffCorp and Keppel Infrastructure Trust , after the former has been put on sale by its owner TPG Capital Management late last year through Lazard Group LLC .

The sale was reportedly expected to fetch as much as A$4 billion (US$3.54 billion). Lazard Group also approached Marubeni Corp and Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc as potential buyers.

The sale of Alinta, which sells gas to 700,000 customers in the state of Western Australia and electricity in South Australia and Victoria states, as well as owning eight power stations and a gas pipeline, comes as Australian governments plan their own sales of energy infrastructure.

From 2015, the government of New South Wales state plans to sell a half stake in its electricity distribution network for about A$20 billion and the government of Queensland state plans to raise A$33 billion selling pipelines, ports and power generators.