SingPower to buy PowerNet

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Singapore Power Ltd., confirmed Tuesday it has agreed to buy Australian power transmission company GPU PowerNet for A$2.1 billion.

GPU PowerNet, the power-transmission system of the state of Victoria, is owned by General Public Utilities Inc. (GPU) of the U.S.

Dow Jones Newswires earlier Tuesday reported the deal from sources knowledgeable about the transaction.

GPU, as the company listed in New York is known, bought the state's power-transmission system in 1997.

The Australian acquisition will be Singapore Power's largest foreign investment. It's also one of the biggest investments by a Singapore government-linked company outside the city-state.

Previously, Singapore Power has purchased power-generation assets in Indonesia, China and other Asian countries.