Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Blackstone plans $872m investment in Ugandan dam project

From the WSJ via Financial News Online:

Blackstone’s quest for new private equity deals has led it to Uganda's Lake Victoria, where it just agreed to invest in an $872m (€606m) dam project called Bujagali.

Sithe Global Power, a power-development company Blackstone owns, plans to declare as early as Tuesday its agreement to spearhead the 250MW Bujagali hydroelectric station on the Nile River about five miles downstream from Lake Victoria

Sithe Global will put up $110m towards the project. Industrial Promotion Services, the investment arm of Aga Kahn, the Muslim spiritual leader, will put up $60m and the government of Uganda will contribute $20m.

A total of $682m in debt financing will be provided by a group including the European Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation and the African Development Bank.