Centrica's North American subsidiary, Direct Energy, has agreed to sell its Texas gas-fired power stations to Blackstone for $685 million (£420 million) in cash.

The three units, located in Paris, Bastrop, and Mission, have a combined capacity of 1,295MW. As part of the transaction, Direct Energy has also entered into a three year call option arrangement for an equivalent amount of capacity with Blackstone.


Badar Khan, President and CEO of Direct Energy, said: "This transaction allows us to realise value from our gas-fired fleet, while ensuring stability of price and supply in the Texas power market through the call option arrangement.

"Residential retail supply is key to our North American business, and with sufficient generation capacity in Texas, we can support our downstream business through contractual arrangements, rather than asset ownership."

(CD/MH)