China Power may buy assets from parent
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-19 11:37

China Power International Development Ltd., a unit of the nation's fifth-biggest utility, may buy assets from its parent as early as mid-2005 as part of plans to triple capacity in five years, Chief Executive Li Xiaolin said.

The company may buy two of six plants it manages for the State-owned parent once restructuring is completed in about six months, Li said in an interview. It may also exercise an option to buy 25 percent of China-listed Shanghai Electric Power Co., she said. The three assets would double the company's capacity to 6,112 megawatts.

China Power's shares surged 17 percent to HK$2.95 in their Hong Kong trading debut on Friday as investors bet the company will benefit from rising demand for electricity in China, the world's second-largest energy market after the U.S. The company raised HK$2.5 billion (US$320.6 million) after pricing its shares at a discount to rivals such as Huaneng Power International Inc.

"Investors are betting this company will build up its value through acquisitions in the next two years,'' said Liu Yang, who helps manage US$1.8 billion including China Power shares at Atlantis Investment Management in Hong Kong.

China Power's parent, China Power Investment Corp., is the fourth of the nation's five major power producers to sell shares in an international unit in Hong Kong. The five were formed by a breakup of former monopoly State Power Corp. in 2002.

The listed company, which owns 3,010 megawatts of capacity in three coal-fired plants, lured investors to its initial public offering with plans to boost profit by buying power plants and building new ones that will go into operation starting in 2007.

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