The AES Corporation (AES 0.80%) announced today that it has officially completed the handover of all its Cameroon assets to emerging market investor Actis for $202 million.
The international utility announced the sell-off of its Cameroon businesses last November. At the time, AES had expected to grab $220 million from the sale, putting these final numbers $18 million below previous expectations. The company said today the difference was due to closing price adjustments, which would have valued the assets at less than their listed price.
The move comes as part of The AES Corporation's larger strategic plan to jettison its less-profitable non-core assets, including wind projects in India and Poland. In November, President and CEO Andrés Gluski noted in a press release that "[w]e see our best opportunities in investing in our existing platforms, where we feel we have a long-term sustainable competitive advantage."
AES' original Cameroon investment dates back to 2001, when the country privatized its only integrated utility. Since then, the corporation had expanded to include investments in two independent power producers, giving AES a stake in total generation capacity of around 1,235 MW.
As of today, AES has received $162 million from Actis, and will receive its additional $40 million by June 2016.
