Enel sells Chilean transmission business for US$1.4 billion
Lily Squires
22 December 2022
Arteaga Gorziglia in Santiago has helped Chile’s Sociedad Transmisora Metropolitana (STM) acquire the local electricity transmission subsidiary of Italian energy giant Enel for US$1.4 billion.
Carey in Santiago advised the seller in the divestment of Enel Transmisión Chile.
STM carried out a public offer for its acquisition of a 99% equity stake in Enel Chile’s transmission business. Cuatrecasas (Chile) advised the dealer manager of that transaction, Banco Santander.
The buyer also obtained a US$1.2 billion loan to finance the purchase, turning to Milbank in New York for counsel. The lenders relied on Clifford Chance LLP in New York and Washington, DC.
The loan was composed of a multi-tranche facility denominated in both US dollars and Chilean pesos.
The acquisition closed on 9 December, following the approval from Chile’s antitrust authority FNE.
Through the deal, STM acquired the target company’s 683 kilometres worth of transmission lines, which serve some 60 substations in Santiago’s metropolitan area.
The transaction is in line with Enel’s business strategy to streamline its organisation by divesting parts of the company that aren’t directly affiliated with its core business operations.
Meanwhile, the deal allows STM to further consolidate its presence in Chile’s power sector.
STM is a subsidiary of Grupo SAESA, southern Chile’s largest electricity distributor. It supplies electricity to around 950,000 customers, using its portfolio of 2,280 kilometres of transmission lines and 75 substations. SAESA is jointly owned by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Alberta Investment Management Corporation.
Enel is present in 30 countries and has a total installed capacity of 93 gigawatts across its global power assets. The company is active in Latin America, where it has several local subsidiaries. In October, Madrid-based renewables company Grupo Fotones signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Enel Chile. That came shortly after Brazil’s Equatorial Energia bought electricity distributor Celg-D from Enel for US$299 million.
For the acquisition
Counsel to Sociedad Transmisora Metropolitana (STM) and Grupo SAESA
Arteaga Gorziglia
Partners Ignacio Arteaga, Luciano Cru, Andrés Ossandón and Arnaldo Gorziglia, and associates Ignacio Allende, Gaspar Prieto, Santiago Portaluppi and Cristian Carpentier in Santiago
Counsel to Enel
In-house counsel - Domingo Valdés, Mónica Fernández, Isabel Cabeza and Macarena Navarro
Carey
Partners Alfonso Silva and Cristián Figueroa, counsel Eduardo Martin and associates Vicente Yubini and Borja Ochagavía in Santiago
Counsel to Banco Santander Chile
Cuatrecasas (Chile)
Partners Roberto Guerrero and Macarena Ravinet, and associates Fernanda María Anguita, Federico Espinosa and María del Pilar Illanes in Santiago
For the acquisition financing
Counsel to Sociedad Transmisora Metropolitana (STM)
Milbank
Partners Carlos Albarracín, Francisco Nuñez and John Williams, special counsel Elizabeth Martinez and associates Andres Osornio, Alyssa Julian, Fernando Quezada, Agustin Videla, Devan Zorn and Serge Holodny in New York
Counsel to the lenders
Clifford Chance LLP
Partner Fabricio Longhin and associate Julian Hurtado Vallejo in Washington, DC, and partners Darren Littlejohn and Avrohom Gelber, and associates David Martinez, Alexis Haddock, Joyce Moore Wei Bin Tan in New York
