Sasol sells Mozambique power stake to pay down debt
Earlier this year, Sasol held a sustainability roundtable. In its presentation, the petrochemicals company outlined a shift away from fossil fuels and towards natural gas in its feedstock. This, it said, is a critical part of its future. However Sasol also admitted that South Africa is fast running out of local natural gas supplies. The refinery sector in the country is said to be in dire straits as PetroSA’s 45,000 barrel-a-day plant is running out of feedstock and Glencore’s Cape Town refinery has been shut since February this year. Combined they would take over a fifth of the nation’s processing capacity offline. Petroliam Nasional, Sasol and Royal Dutch Shell are reviewing their South African operations. In its recent sustainability presentation, Sasol said that it has little choice but to secure natural gas supplies from neighbouring countries. CEO Fleetwood Grobler said that imports from Mozambique were the most likely
Sasol s head office in Johannesburg
Sasol has entered into a $145 million sale agreement of its shareholding in a gas-to-power plant in Mozambique, as the company continues its assets offloading drive in an attempt to boost its financial position.
The company announced on Monday that the divestment in Central Termica de Ressano Garcia (CTRG), which is located on the border between South Africa and Mozambique is subject to regulatory approvals. Sasol owns a 49 % stake in the project, and Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), the country s state-owned electricity company holds 51%.
It plans to sell its stake to Azura Power, one of the prominent Independent Power Plants operator in the continent.
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JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Sasol is pleased to announce that a Sale Securities Purchase Agreement has been signed with Azura Power Limited for the divestment of the Company s full shareholding in CTRG, the gas-to-power plant located in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique.
The transaction is subject to a number of conditions precedent, which include regulatory approval and the waiver of pre-emption rights held by Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), the Mozambican state-owned electricity company.
The consideration will be approximately USD145 million and covers the equity and other shareholder claims that Sasol holds in CTRG. This will be subject to any relevant closing adjustments, including those in relation to working capital.
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(Bloomberg) Sasol Ltd. has agreed to sell its stake in a 175-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Mozambique to Azura Power Ltd. for about $145 million as part of an accelerated disposal program to pay down debt.
The sale of its 49% shareholding in the Central Termica de Ressano Garcia plant, or CTRG, is subject to conditions including a pre-emption right by state-owned Electricidade de Mocambique, that holds the majority stake, as well as closing adjustments, the company said Monday in a statement. It has yet to announce a winning bidder for its stake in half of the 865-kilometer (538-mile) Rompco natural-gas pipeline that runs from Mozambique to South Africa.
Image: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
Chemicals group Sasol has sold its Mozambique gas- to-power plant Central Termica De Ressano Garcia S.A. (CTRG) to Azura Power for $145 million (R2.1 billion).
In a statement, Sasol says this transaction is part of its âongoing, strategy aligned, asset divestment programme.â The disposal of CTRG follows its sale of a 50% stake in its newly-completed Lake Charles Chemicals Project in Louisiana, for $2 billion to LyondellBasell, a global chemicals and plastics producer a few weeks ago.
It has also sold its 50% interest in the Gemini high-density polyethylene joint venture, in Texas, to its partner INEOS for$404 million and interest in the Etame Marin offshore block in Gabon $44 million to VAALCO Gabon S.A. in November.