/Reuters Agency
The American utility company Sempra announced that it will sell a stake in its infrastructure unit for 10 billion dollars in cash, in addition to approving a 14 billion dollar expansion of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Port Arthur, Texas.
The company transacted a 45% equity stake in Sempra Infrastructure Partners – which owns LNG assets and related infrastructure such as pipelines and storage – to KKR and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Private equity firms are competing to acquire energy infrastructure assets, amid a record increase in electricity consumption, driven primarily by data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence operations and by growth in domestic use.
Once the agreement is finalized, a consortium led by KKR will become the majority owner of the unit with a 65% stake, while Sempra will retain 25% and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will maintain its existing 10% stake.
The deal, which implies an equity value of 22.2 billion dollars for the Sempra unit, is expected to close between the second and third quarter of 2026. Sempra estimates that the operation will add approximately 20 cents to its annual earnings per share starting in 2027.
The company’s shares rose 3.2%, reaching 85 dollars in pre-market trading.
