The owner of Edesura begins her departure from Argentina with sales exceeding 100 million dollars

Amid the uncertainty surrounding the award Edessaurits owner, enel group, has already begun to specify his departure from Argentina. sold out central portnational group led by Guillermo "Willy" Reca, Carlos Miguens-Bemberg and Eduardo Escasanyits shares in the Costanera power plants (76%) and Dock Court (72%). The total amount of the transaction was 102 million dollarsbetween both operations (48 million dollars by Central Costanera and 54 million dollars for keeping in the Dock Court).

In this way, Enel, which announced the sale of his assets in November in the country, is taking the first step towards leaving Argentina, at a time when its main company, distributor Edesur, is in the eye of the storm, due to power outages caused by high temperatures this week. The Italian made the decision to sell its assets in "non-strategic" markets - including locally - to reduce debt, so 24,000 million euros.

At the beginning of this year, Enel CEO Francesco Starace said that the Italian group was leaving Argentina because "it has the most bizarre regulation in the world."

Located on the south coast of the city of Buenos Aires, Coastal generation -as Enel renamed the former Central Costanera- has established itself as the most important facility for the production of thermal energy in South America. It has 11 production units - conventional and combined cycles-, with 2324 megawatts (MW) installed capacity. It generates the energy needed for 3.5 million homes across the country, which is equivalent to 6% of the total installed power of the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI). Italians held 75.68 percent of its shares.

For its part, what was sold from Central Dock Sud was the 57.14% that Enel had in Inversora Dock Sud, the owner of 71.78% of the generator's shares. It directly represents 40% of the company, of which another 40% is in the hands of YPF and 20%, Pan American Energy (PAE).

In its information to CNV, Central Puerto clarified that the price of this transaction (54 million dollars) "still subject to certain adjustments agreed between the parties, which will take place between the signing and closing of the transaction". He added that it closureIt still depends "on the fulfillment of certain conditions precedent."

As announced in the global statement, Enel expects the transaction to be completed before next March 31.

For now, it has been announced that all Enel representatives have already resigned from the board of directors of Generación Costanera and have been replaced by people from the new buyer.

With this acquisition alone, Central Puerto will become the largest producer of electricity in the country.

"With the acquisition of Central Costanera, Central Puerto will add an installed capacity of 2305 Mw on their already 4809 Mwand will thus contribute a total of more than 7,100 Mw to the Argentine Interconnection System (SADI)," the company said in a statement. It added that, together with its current assets, it will achieve a share of 17% of the total production capacity in Argentina, to which another 150 Mw under construction should be added.

"Currently, the Costanera plant consists of six turbo-steam units, with an installed capacity of 1140 Mw power and two combined cycle units of 315 MW and 850 MW. They are added to that 35.6 Mw in connection with the purchase of engines from the El Chocón hydroelectric plant," he added. The purchase of these engines was estimated at 600 thousand dollars.

"The value of Central Costanera lies not only in the machines, but also in what represents a unique management of production assets in which Central Puerto has great technical and operational experience, highlighting these points as just some of the advantages that this synergy represents for us," he stated. Gabriel Ures, Commercial Director of Central Puerta.

"All this means that the cost of the acquisition does not accurately reflect the enormous growth potential of Central Costanera and the effective cost management that can be produced from the aforementioned synergies," he concluded.

for his part, Fernando Bonnet, general manager of Central Puertahe claimed: "For Central Puerto, the acquisition of Central Costanera represents a great investment opportunity. As a result of its global decarbonization policy and the strategic decision to sell its assets in the country resulting from the presentation of the Strategic Plan made in November 2022, Enel prioritized closing the sale process of its thermal generation assets. This allowed us to acquire an asset with high potential at a price that represents a unique opportunity for our company."

Central Puerto has 14 production facilities and more than 1,000 employees. In November, it underwent a shareholder reorganization, after the departure of Mr Nicholas "Nicky" Caputo control groups of companies. After this operation, the company began the journey of business expansion, the first step of which was the purchase of the forest assets of the Chilean Masisa, in December ($70 million).

For its part, Enel thus completed the first sale of its assets in the country, as announced in November. It got rid of the thermal generator and kept the hydroelectric plant in this segment El Chocón, in Neuquén, with a capacity of 1328 Mw. Its other local assets are Enel X (alternative energy), its power distribution and transmission units, and Edesur, power distribution concessionaire for the AMBA southern area, with more than 2.5 million users whose intervention - and eventual expropriation - the Government discussed last week.