Summary
This 8-K filing from Sempra Energy (SRE) on October 7, 2010, announces the sale of most of the remaining assets of its joint venture, RBS Sempra Commodities, to JP Morgan Ventures Energy Corp. for approximately $220 million. This sale, along with previously announced divestitures, marks the completion of the joint venture's principal asset sales. Investors should note that Sempra Energy expects to receive a total of $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion in proceeds and cash distributions from the entire divestiture process.
Key Highlights
- 1RBS Sempra Commodities, a joint venture of Sempra Energy and The Royal Bank of Scotland, is selling most of its remaining assets for approximately $220 million to JP Morgan Ventures Energy Corp.
- 2The sale includes the joint venture's wholesale natural gas and power trading agreements, as well as over-the-counter and exchange-traded transactions.
- 3This transaction is part of a larger divestiture of the joint venture's principal assets, which began with the sale of its global metals and oil businesses and European natural gas and power businesses in July 2010.
- 4The sale of the Sempra Energy Solutions unit to Noble Group Ltd. is also expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2010.
- 5Sempra Energy anticipates its total share of proceeds and cash distributions from the entire joint venture divestiture to be between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion.
- 6The company expects to record an after-tax charge of $50 million to $150 million in third-quarter 2010 earnings due to the sale, as it is not expected to fully recover the goodwill in the carrying value of its investment.
- 7The completion of the current asset sale is subject to regulatory approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2010.