Thaiand's EGCO eyes stake in Korean power firml

Thailand's EGCO announced its interest in buying a stake in GS Power in order to expand outside Southeast Asia.

"We haven't offered a bid yet, but we're interested. If it offers acceptable risk with interesting returns, we're keen to buy," said EGCO investor relations manager Jiraporn Rungsritong.

GS Caltex, South Korea's second-largest crude oil refiner, wants indicative bids for a 50 percent stake in fully owned subsidiary GS Power by Nov. 14, a company spokesman said, in a deal reportedly worth up to 500 billion won or $448.9 million.

Thailand's Electricity Generating Pcl or EGCO was one of two potential buyers reported by local media to have shown interest in the stake. The other was Japan's Chubu Electric Power .

EGCO has changed its investment policy by looking to buy assets beyond Southeast Asia after a change in its shareholding structure, Jiraporn said.

"Our investment policy has changed and we are looking at any investment that offers acceptable risk and return," she said.

EGCO has been looking for opportunities to buy stakes in power plants in Southeast Asian countries to boost capacity and earnings growth.

It has interests in 14 power plants in Thailand, Laos and the Philippines with a combined capacity of about 4,277 MW and accounts for about 12 percent of Thailand's generating capacity.

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