AES on verge of completing tender offer for Chilean generator for $1.3 billion

AES Corp. is about to complete its tender offer for Chilean power generator Gener SA for about $1.3 billion.

The Virginia based power company said it purchased 3.5 billion shares of Gener�s common stock representing 61.57% of the issued and outstanding capital stock. These shares cost about $842 million.

Simultaneously, AES has offered to exchange all of Gener�s American Depositary Shares for AES common shares at $16.50 per ADS. This offer expires today at 3 p.m. The ADRs represent about 25% of Gener�s capital stock.

AES launched plans in November to take over the Chilean company in what appeared to have been a bidding war with French company TotalFinaElf. But TotalFinaElf dropped out after AES agreed to let Total acquire Gener�s Argentine generation assets for $652 million.

Gener, with its 50% stake in a related company Guacolda, owns 23.5% of Chile�s electric generation capacity. It also has interests in generation in Colombia, Argentina, and Dominican Republic and in natural gas transportation and coal mining