ISA Secures Loan To Pay Electricity Bill

Colombia’s largest energy provider, state-controlled Interconexión Eléctrica SA (ISA), has secured a $550 million loan from JP Morgan Securities and ABN AMRO Bank to pay for the majority stake in Brazilian electricity distributor Companhia de Transmissão de Energia Elétrica Paulista (CTEEP), which it won in bidding at the end of June. ISA bid $534 million for a 50.01% stake in the São Paulo-based firm, representing the largest acquisition by a Colombian company abroad. The purchase of CTEEP turned ISA into Latin America’s largest energy provider, with operations in Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama and Peru.