The manager of Quebec's pension funds is plugging into an energy provider for the capital of the Hoosier State.
The C$214.7 billion (US$184.6 billion) Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal, last month announced it would acquire a 15% stake in AES US Investments Inc., subsidiary of power company AES Corp., for US$244 million. The subsidiary owns IPALCO Enterprises Inc., parent of Indianapolis Power & Light Co.
Caisse will invest US$349 million in IPL in exchange for a 17.65% equity stake; the money will be used by the utility to help fund a US$1.4 billion capital expenditure program that will reduce IPL's coal usage to about 44% by 2017, from 74%.
“This investment perfectly fits our profile as a long-term investor in the infrastructure sector,” said Macky Tall, senior vice president, infrastructure and private equity, at Caisse. “Moreover, this partnership opens new opportunities with AES across the Americas. AES is well-established in markets such as Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2015, pending regulatory approval.
