AES said that has agreed to sell 100 per cent of its ownership interest in Songas, a gas-to-electricity business in Tanzania, and in AES Kelvin Power, a 600MWe coal-fired plant in South Africa. AES is selling its interest in both concerns to CDC Globeleq, and unit of the CDC Group.
AES said that the $329 million includes cash and assumed project debt, and expects the sale of both businesses to close in the first quarter of 2003. Cash proceeds to AES is expected to be about $116 million.
AES has completed a $2.1 billion bank and bond refinancing critical to averting a bankruptcy filing, paving the way for it to push off most of its maturing debt until November 2004.
Like many other power producers, AES has been struggling to solve critical financial and operational problems to stay afloat. In 2002, AES suffered a string of credit rating downgrades, a federal subpoena into its trading practices, and a significant downturn in its stock and bond prices.
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