Conduit Capital Sells Mexican Gas Facility

Conduit Capital Partners has sold the Libramiento natural gas compressional facility and an associate gas pipeline to InterGen, for $89.2 million.

PRESS RELEASE

Conduit Capital Partners LLC, a private equity investment firm focused on infrastructure investment and development in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced today that it has completed the sale of the Libramiento natural gas compression facility and an associated 65km natural gas pipeline to InterGen.  The total value of the transaction, which was originally announced in June, was $89.2 million, excluding the assumption of non-recourse debt.

Starting in 2005, Conduit worked with minority partners Green Energy and Infrastructura Para Energía to build, own and operate the facility and pipeline, which are located in Queretaro, Mexico.  Since the project’s completion in 2007, it has had a long-term contract in place with Pemex Gas Y Petroquimici Basica, a petrochemical unit of the Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos.

“We are pleased to close this transaction with a strategic buyer that recognizes the importance and quality of the assets we worked to build and operate,” said Marc Frishman, a Partner at Conduit.  “This is a textbook Conduit investment, in that we identified the strongest local partners to work with us as we developed this project from greenfield to fully operational status with a reliable, long-term contract in place.  We also had a strong financing partner in NORD/LB, who understands the Mexico market well and has been a key part of this project from the start.

“We continue to see demand for independent power production facilities and other infrastructure projects in Mexico and our other target countries, and we will continue looking for opportunities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” Frishman concluded.

The investment for the Libramiento natural gas facility and pipeline was made in 2005 from Conduit’s Latin Power III fund, which closed in July 2006 with $392 million.  Latin Power III is 57% committed, with another 18% of the fund allocated to projects in development.  This is the second realization from the Latin Power III portfolio.  In December 2007, Conduit sold Jamaica Energy Partners for $92.5 million.  JEP consisted of two barge-mounted diesel-fired generating facilities with installed capacity totaling 125 MW.

About Conduit Capital Partners www.conduitcap.com
Based in New York City, Conduit Capital Partners, LLC is a private investment firm focused exclusively on infrastructure investment and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.  Through its management of the Latin Power Funds, Conduit has made investments in Mexico, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Jamaica, Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica.  Founded in 1993, Latin Power I was the first private equity fund exclusively dedicated to infrastructure investments.  Conduit is presently investing its $392 million Latin Power III fund.