ACWA Power delays IPO plans

Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power has delayed plans for an initial public offering (IPO), originally envisaged for this year, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday.

A spokesman for ACWA Power declined to comment. The company has $30 billion (Dh110 billion) of assets under management and counts Saudi sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund as a shareholder.

ACWA Power, which develops power and desalinated water plants, had been planning to sell a 30 per cent stake in an IPO in Riyadh by the end of the year. It hired JP Morgan, Citigroup, Natixis and Riyad Capital to advise on that process, sources told Reuters in March.

But sources now say the transaction will not happen this year, with one saying the IPO will be delayed for at least a year. Problems relating to an ACWA Power project in Turkey were one reason for the delay, one of the sources said. Last year, ACWA Power launched the $1 billion Kirikkale Power Plant, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and capable of meeting three per cent of Turkey’s total electricity demand.

But players in the Turkish power market have had their margins squeezed due to slow reform in the sector.