Blackstone Buying 3 Texas Direct Energy Plants

HOUSTON (AP) — Direct Energy has announced plans to sell its three natural gas-fired power plants in Texas to private equity firm The Blackstone Group LP in a $685 million cash deal.

The agreement was announced Wednesday by Houston-based Direct Energy. The sale will be made through Direct Energy Power Holdings Inc.

The units are located in Bastrop (BAS'-trup), Mission, and Paris and have a combined capacity of nearly 1,300 megawatts.

The agreement with New York-based Blackstone is subject to regulatory review and should close in early 2014.

Direct Energy is a subsidiary of Centrica PLC.

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Online:

http://www.directenergy.com/

http://www.blackstone.com/

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