Report: Hydro Quebec could buy Transener

Canadian transmission company Hydro Quebec is interested in buying Brazilian company Petrobras' 32.5% stake in Argentine transmission company Transener, Argentine newspaper Cronista quoted an anonymous Canadian embassy source as saying. Hydro Quebec officials were not returning calls on Wednesday, but Canada's ambassador to Argentina, Thomas MacDonald, told BNamericas that the company is studying new investments in Argentina. "Like any good, aggressive company, they're always looking for other opportunities, but whether Transener falls into that category they would be a better judge of than I would," MacDonald said. Hydro Quebec owns 100% of Chile's main transmission company HQI Transelec and 56.66% of Peruvian transporter TransMantario. In total it has invested US$1.2bn to date in these countries, Cronista reported. In 2002, Petrobras closed a US$1.1bn deal to buy a 58.6% stake in oil and gas company Petrobras Energia Participaciones, formerly known as Perez Companc. Petrobras Energia Participaciones owns 98% of energy company Petrobras Energia, formerly known as Pecom Energia, which holds a 32.5% controlling stake in Transener. One of the conditions of the sale was that Petrobras would sell its stake in Transener, but there was no time limit set on the sale. Earlier this year, Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde expressed disapproval of Transener's inclusion in the deal for considering it "a strategic company for the development of Argentina." Transener is attractive to potential buyers because it operates 14,300km of lines and has a monopoly on transmission lines in Argentina. However, its sale depends on the renegotiation of its concession with the government and the restructuring of its US$470mn debt, Cronista reported. It has been in default since April 2002, following the devaluation of the Argentine peso that negatively impacted its ability to meet financial commitments in US dollars.