CGN Buys Second-Biggest Malaysian Power Producer for $2.3 Billion

Shuang Shan

China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) acquired 100 percent of Edra Global Energy Bhd, the second-largest power producer in Malaysia and the power subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), for $2.3 billion and the assumption of all of Edra’s unspecified debt.

The purchase, which came on the heels of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Malaysia, is expected to close in February and will alleviate the debt burden of the scandal-ridden Malaysian government fund 1MDB.

With the acquisition, CGN extends its global expansion to 13 power stations in Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, UAE and Malaysia and become the largest independent power producer in Bangladesh and Egypt. CGN will also have a 3,112-megawatt capacity in Malaysia, second only to the Malakoff Corporation.

According to Reuters, CGN had to obtain a regulatory waiver of the Malaysian law restricting foreign ownership in the power sector to 49 percent.

Based in Shenzhen, CGN is a leading clean energy company that operates and constructs more than two dozen nuclear projects in China while actively pursuing international expansion deals in UK and Romania.

(Photo by Alika Seu via Flickr)