Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010

(Updates adding detail.) 


 
   By Quentin Fottrell 
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

DUBLIN (Dow Jones)--Ireland's state-owned Electricity Supply Board said Wednesday it will buy Northern Ireland's power distributor Viridian Group Holdings Ltd.'s Northern Ireland Electricity business, or NIE, for EUR1.2 billion.

NIE business employs 1,300 people and will continue to operate under its own brand, but ESB said the deal will help the Irish and government in the U.K. province of Northern Ireland help reach their environmental targets.

Bahrain's Arcapita Bank bought the Viridian Group in 2006. Its principal businesses following completion of the transaction will be Viridian Power & Energy, the Power Procurement business and NIE Energy Supply. These businesses employ approximately 340 people.

Viridian, which owns NIE, grew out of the former public-service electricity supplier in Northern Ireland, which was privatized in 1993; Viridian was founded in 1998.

Viridian also operates a market retail arm, Energia, a supplier of electricity to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; it also operates Huntstown, the Republic's first independent generator capable of supplying around 10% of the country's electricity needs.

NIE owns the regulated electricity transmission and distribution network in Northern Ireland and is responsible for the planning, development, construction and maintenance of the entire network, as well as the operation of the distribution network. ESB owns the electricity transmission and distribution network in the Republic of Ireland

Completion of the deal is subject to a number of conditions, including approval by the Irish and U.K. competition authorities and a refinancing of the existing indebtedness of the Viridian Group, both companies said. Subject to fulfilment of those conditions, the deal is expected to complete by the end of 2010.

ESB Chief Executive Padraig McManus said, "ESB is fully committed to delivering the significant investment in Northern Ireland's transmission and distribution networks that will be required to deliver our common energy sustainability policy objectives over the coming years."

-By Quentin Fottrell, Dow Jones Newswires; +353-1-6762189; quentin.fottrell@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-07-10 0715GMT