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Egypt's Citadel forms power venture for Sudan plant
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Jan 18, 2010 - 8:43:59 AM

Egypt's Citadel forms power venture for Sudan plant

CAIRO (Reuters) - Taqa Arabia, a subsidiary of Cairo-based Citadel Capital, has agreed to form a $67 million joint venture with its ASEC Cement unit to generate power for a cement plant in Sudan, Citadel said in a statement.

The Berber for Electrical Power venture, announced on Sunday, will have a capacity of 42 megawatts and supply a 1.6 million tonne per annum greenfield cement plant near Fahalb.

The cement plant is a subsidiary of ASEC Cement, itself a subsidiary of private equity firm Citadel Capital.

"This agreement is the first major milestone in Global Energy's regional expansion drive," Khaled Abubakr Taqa Arabia Chief executive officer said in the statement. Global Energy is Taqa's power arm.

The new venture, which will begin generating power next month, will be owned 51 percent by Taqa Arabia, 25 percent by the Sudanese Pension Fund and 24 percent by ASEC Cement.

"We will continue to look for attractive regional investment opportunities going forward," Abubakr added.

The cement plant, named Takamol, will come on stream later this year, ASEC Cement Chief Executive Officer Giorgio Bodo said in the statement.

ASEC Cement will have a combined capacity of about 12 million tonnes per annum by 2012 in factories in six countries in the region, the statement said.

Citadel, which entered Sudan in 2007, has invested around $750 million in Sudanese agriculture, logistics and river transportation, as well as cement and mining.