(Darby) July 2, 2010 – Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. (“Darby”), the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, announced that its Darby Latin America Mezzanine Fund, L.P. (“DLAMF I”) sold its 28.7% holding in Termobarranquilla S.A. (“TEBSA”), the largest and most modern gas fired power plant in Colombia. In addition, Darby sold 100% of the operating company GPUI Colombia Ltda., which has the TEBSA OEM contract.
TEBSA accounts for approximately 8% of the country’s power supply, and has played a key role in the stabilization of the Colombian electricity supply system. Darby, through DLAMF I, acquired FirstEnergy Corp.’s direct and indirect interests in TEBSA on January 30, 2004. A sale to Golden Gate Energy Investments Ltd., a company owned by a Colombian consortium, was completed on June 30th, 2010 as part of a joint sale effort with subsidiaries of ABB Inc. for a combined interest of 57.34% in TEBSA. The TEBSA sale represents the tenth exit for DLAMF I, which now has two portfolio companies remaining.
David Hudson, Darby’s Senior Managing Director for Latin America Mezzanine, Asia and Global Infrastructure, commented: “TEBSA has been an important and highly reliable power source for Colombia. This sale, moreover, represents a major contribution to our long-term mezzanine track record. The entire firm takes pride in this highly successful exit.”
Richard Frank, Jr., Darby’s Principal responsible for Latin America Mezzanine operations, commented: “TEBSA has been Darby’s most successful investment in Latin America to date and reinforces our mezzanine strategy of providing long term growth capital to established middle-market companies and select infrastructure projects.”
Darby has been a pioneer in providing mezzanine products – a hybrid of both debt and equity – to various emerging market regions, including Latin America, Asia, and more recently Central and Eastern Europe. The firm has been managing mezzanine funds in Latin America since the close of DLAMF I in 1999. In 2008, Darby’s Brazil Mezzanine Infrastructure Fund closed at total commitments of R$387.5 million (US$236 million).
Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. was founded in 1994 by The Honorable Nicholas F. Brady, who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury between 1988 and 1993. Richard Frank joined the firm as CEO in 1997 after his career at the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/World Bank. In 2003, Darby became a fully owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments.
Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust, Darby and Bissett investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and over US$572 billion in assets under management as of May 31, 2010.