Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has acquired Calpine Corp. for $5.6 billion.
CPPIB will make this investment as part of a consortium comprised of funds advised by Energy Capital Partners and other investors.
The transaction is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions. CPPIB will invest $750 million.
Calpine has 80 power plants in operation or under construction with the capacity to generate approximately 26,000 megawatts of electricity from geothermal and natural gas resources — enough to power approximately 20 million homes. Calpine’s 13 geothermal geyser assets in Northern California are one of the largest sources of renewable energy in the state. Calpine also sells electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers through the Calpine Solutions and Champion Energy retail platforms.
CPPIB said it delivered gross investment returns of 1.9 percent in the latest quarter, with the strong Canadian dollar hurting its performance. It ended the second quarter on June 30 with net assets of C$326.5 billion ($257 billion), up from C$316.7 billion on March 31.
Recently, CPPIB partnered with Allianz Capital Partners to buy a minority equity interest in the Spanish gas distribution business of Gas Natural Fenosa. CPPIB and Allianz will invest €$1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) to acquire a 20 percent stake in the unit, the largest gas distribution network in Spain, serving some 1,100 municipalities. CPPIB’s share of the investment is about $1.34 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in January 2018. Based in Barcelona, Gas Natural Fenosa is a gas and electricity company.
