Calpine granted court OK of $233.6 million sale of Aries Power Plant

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Dec. 6 - Calpine Corp. obtained court approval of the $233.6 million sale of its 590-megawatt Aries Power Plant to Kelson Holdings, LLC, according to a company news release.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close within the next 30 to 60 days.

"Calpine continues to make significant progress with our restructuring efforts and in divesting of non-core power assets," chief executive officer Robert P. May said in the release.

"In addition to enhancing Calpine's liquidity and reducing project debt, the Aries sale is consistent with our strategy of focusing our resources on core power assets in our key power markets where Calpine can best compete."

In October, Calpine received court approval to proceed with the sale process for Aries and initially obtained a $158.5 million bid from Aquila, Inc.

The auction was held Dec. 4 and Kelson was selected as the winning bidder.

Calpine said it will use the sale proceeds to repay about $191 million of project-related debt, including all outstanding principal, accrued interest and other debt claims.

Calpine, a San Jose, Calif.-based power company, filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 20, 2005 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Its Chapter 11 case number is 05-60200.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.