Rockland Capital Energy Investments has unloaded a minority position in the £160 million ($310 million) of debt associated with Teesside Power Financing, according to LMW sister publication Power, Finance & Risk. Teeside is the vehicle that controls a 1.8 GW plant in northeast England.
Houston-based Rockland acquired the debt less than a year ago in partnership with Cargill Financial Markets. The buyer could not be determined. Scott Harlan, principal at Rockland, confirmed the sale, which is in the form of trade claims, but he declined to comment further. Calls to Cargill in London were not returned by press time.
The gas-fired power station in northeast England has claims against former owner Enron and offtakerBritishEnergy. The Rockland purchase initially was believed to have been an attempt to acquire the underlying plant because the claims are secured against Enron's and British Energy's equity stake in Teesside.
Teesside's debt in the secondary loan market has been improving steadily over the past several months. Observers believe that Rockland was profit taking. Price talk is floating around the 84-87 range. The name has climbed in fits and starts from 73-75 since June, according to Markit. Since the summer, a number of banks including Abbey National, HypoVereinsbank, Bayerische Landesbank, HBOS and WestLB have shed more than £115 million in Teesside's project loan paper. The bulk of Teesside's £655 million non-recourse debt is owned by investment banks and hedge funds.