Topic: How To Invest

BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $32.00 – Toronto symbol BEP.UN

BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $32.00 (Toronto symbol BEP.UN; Units outstanding: 265.2 million; Market cap: $8.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.brpfund.com) is buying the wind power assets of the Irish government’s Bord Gais Energy for $960 million.

The purchase includes 321 megawatts of capacity across 17 projects in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Bord Gais has another 125 megawatts under construction and 300 megawatts in the planning stage.

To put the acquisition in perspective, Brookfield currently operates 196 hydroelectric generating stations, 11 wind farms and two natural-gas-fired plants. In all, it has 6,000 megawatts of generating capacity.

The Irish government will use the sale proceeds to cut the national debt. Similar distress sales by other debt-burdened European governments and private utilities should give Brookfield lots of attractive acquisition targets.

Growth by acquisition can be risky, especially with a deal this big. Brookfield must now successfully integrate the new assets. But 90% of the power from Bord Gais Energy’s wind farms is already sold under long-term government contracts. That cuts this purchase’s risk.

Brookfield Renewable Energy is a buy.

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