Hong Kong’s CLP Weighing Sale of $2 Billion EnergyAustralia

(Bloomberg) -- CLP Holdings Ltd., one of Hong Kong’s electricity providers, is considering a sale of its unit EnergyAustralia, people with knowledge of the matter said. 

CLP is working with a financial adviser on the proposed divestment, which could value the wholly-owned unit at about $2 billion, the people said. The utility has reached out to potential bidders to gauge interest, they said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

Deliberations are at an early stage and CLP could decide to keep the business, the people said. A representative for CLP didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by phone and email.

CLP completed the acquisition of energy retailer EnergyAustralia in 2011. The Melbourne-based subsidiary, which has more than 2,300 employees, supplies electricity and gas to about 2.44 million customers across the country, according to its website. 

EnergyAustralia’s generation and storage portfolio, including long-term offtake, amounted to over 5,400 megawatts as of the end of June, the website shows. 

The retailer is working to accelerate its transition to cleaner forms of energy, announcing last March that it would move up the retirement date for its Yallourn coal-fired plant in Victoria to mid-2028, and will install a giant storage battery in the same region. The company said in September it pledged to go coal-free by 2040.

Read More: Century-Old Australia Coal Plant Makes Way for Giant Battery

(Updates with details of EnergyAustralia’s energy transition plan in last paragraph.)

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