JSM Financial: BG Group sells three U.S. power plants.

March 24, 2010 - PRLog -- JSM Financial has learned that Californian based private equity firm Energy Capital Partners has agreed to buy three U.S. power generation stations for less than half of what UK oil and gas company, BG Group paid for them four years ago.

The British firm recently said that it had signed an agreement to sell the three New England based power stations for $450million after having bought them in 2006 and 2007 for $925 million to work together with its liquefied gas business in the U.S.

Sources known to JSM have indicated that BG is to redeploy the funds generated from the sale to help in developing the large oil discoveries it has made in Brazil and the potentially lucrative coal seam gas assets which it bought in Australia, a move analysts believe that indicates that the company is moving further away from its focus on traditional gas and power utilities.

U.S. energy markets felt the brunt of the recession at the same time that an increase in domestic gas production lowered demand for imported LNG.

One analyst was recently quoted as saying that “The low valuation for BG Group's US power assets is a disappointment although understandable given the weak market in the US and BG Group's need to offload its peripheral low return asset base to refocus its efforts on its high growth upstream division.”

Energy Capital Partners focuses on investments in North American energy infrastructure and has over $4billion in assets under management.

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