Fortis Inc., Canada’s private sector power company, says it has raised its stake in Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd. by paying $23.9 million to buy additional shares of the power producer.
Fortis announced Monday it has acquired nearly 2.2 million class A ordinary shares of Caribbean Utilities at US$11.09 per share.
Caribbean Utilities is the sole electricity producer on Grand Cayman Island.Fortis now indirectly owns more than 15.7 million shares of CUC, increasing its ownership position by two percentage points to 56%.
The Canadian company says it took part in a rights offering by CUC, part of a broader financing by the subsidiary to raise money to grow its business.Fortis has total assets of about $10.5 billion and annual revenue of more than $2.7 billion, with almost two million natural gas and electricity customers.
The company, which owns Newfoundland Power, Maritime Electric, FortisBC, FortisAlberta and FortisOntario, owns a regulated natural gas utility in British Columbia and electric distribution utilities on P.E.I, Newfoundland, Ontario and Alberta as well as non-regulated power plants in Canada, Belize and upper New York state.
Fortis also owns hotels and commercial real estate.
In trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Fortis shares rose 14 cents to $25.37.