Sempra Pipelines & Storage Completes Acquisition of AEI's Stake in South American Utilities

SAN DIEGO, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Pipelines & Storage, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), today announced it has completed its acquisition of AEI's stake in two jointly owned South American utilities, Chilquinta Energia and Luz del Sur.

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The purchase price was $875 million, which resulted from valuing the assets in Chile at $490 million and the assets in Peru at $385 million.

Sempra Pipelines & Storage now owns 100 percent of Chilquinta Energia and 76 percent of Luz del Sur, with the remaining shares of Luz del Sur held by institutional investors and the general public.  

"We are pleased to complete this acquisition," said George S. Liparidis, president and chief executive officer of Sempra Pipelines & Storage.  "Both Chilquinta Energia and Luz del Sur have strong track records of growth and are located in countries with stable regulatory regimes that encourage re-investment of capital in expanding energy infrastructure."

Chilquinta Energia is an electric distribution utility serving approximately 600,000 customers in the cities of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar in central Chile.

Luz del Sur is an electric distribution utility that serves approximately 900,000 customers in the southern zone of metropolitan Lima, Peru, and delivers approximately one-third of all power used in the country.  Luz del Sur is listed on the Lima Stock Exchange under the symbol "LUSURC1."

As part of the transaction, Sempra Pipelines & Storage also acquired interests in two energy-services companies, Tecnored, S.A., and Tecsur, S.A., which were previously jointly owned with AEI.  

Sempra Pipelines & Storage operates utilities and natural gas infrastructure in Latin America and the United States.  The company and its affiliates manage electricity distribution in Chile and Peru and operate and/or own more than 2,300 miles of pipelines and 23 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity in the United States and Mexico.  Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2010 revenues of $9 billion.  The Sempra Energy companies' nearly 16,000 employees serve about 25 million consumers worldwide.

This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements can be identified by words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "potential," "target," "depends," or similar expressions, or discussions of strategies, plans or intentions.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance.  They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions.  Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, California Department of Water Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Federal Reserve Board, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the United States and other countries where the company does business; capital market conditions and inflation, interest and exchange rates; energy markets, including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices; the availability of electric power, natural gas and liquefied natural gas; weather conditions and conservation efforts; war and terrorist attacks; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions and requirements; the status of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the timing and success of business development efforts; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company.  These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra Energy has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on the company's website at www.sempra.com.

Sempra Pipelines & Storage, Sempra Generation, Sempra LNG and Sempra Energy Trading LLC are not the same companies as the utility, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra Pipelines & Storage, Sempra Generation, Sempra LNG and Sempra Energy Trading LLC are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

SOURCE Sempra Pipelines & Storage