China’s State Grid Completes Chilquinta Acquisition

China’s State Grid International Development (SGID) has received authorization from Chile’s antitrust body, the National Economic Prosecutor Office (FNE), for its acquisition of Chilquinta Energía and Tecnored from US company Sempra Energy. The total transaction is valued at approximately $2.2bn.

The deal also includes the acquisition of Sociedad Austral de Electricidad (SAESA), which operates the electricity transmission systems Eletrans, Eletrans II and Eletrans III. The seller of SAESA was Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board and Alberta Investment Management.

The FNE simultaneously approved both operations, and which were considered as one transaction, the first time that the FNE has treated two proceedings as one, according to Chilean law firm Carey, which acted as counsel to SGID.

The FNE ruled that the transactions did not have the potential to substantially reduce competition in the electricity sector due to the strong limitations imposed by the current electricity sector regulations.

Carey’s team counseling SGID was led by partner Claudio Lizana and also included partners Francisco Ugarte, Alberto Cardemil and associate Daniela León, while Claro & Cia acted for Sempra Energy and Chilquinta Energía.