Tuesday 16 May 2006

BBW to use funds for more wind energy assets

The Age, Page: 4
Saturday, 13 May 2006

JUST one day after Roaring 40s, a company owned by Hydro Tasmania and China Light and Power, abandoned $550 million in Australian wind power investments, Babcock & Brown Wind Partners has raised $118.6 million. The funds were raised at valuations 5¢ above BBW's $1.55 share price before it went into a trading halt on Wednesday to clear the decks for the equity raising.

The last trading price was just above the low point of a long slide from the end of March, when it announced a deal to buy 22 megawatts of wind generation in France. Babcock completed a bookbuild on Thursday night and announced yesterday morning that the offer had been well supported. BBW chief executive Peter O'Connell said there was strong support from a range of institutional investors "across the globe". The overseas support demonstrates the demand in US and European markets for wind assets.

Wind power as an energy source is gaining strong support in many countries, where governments mandate a growing component of renewable energy in national power grids. The Victorian Government is looking at introducing its own renewable energy scheme, which would underpin further development in this state.

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