Excelerate Energy nears $1 billion deal for New Fortress' Jamaica unit, sources say

By David French

March 27 (Reuters) - Liquefied natural gas infrastructure provider Excelerate Energy EE.N is nearing a deal to acquire the Jamaica business of smaller rival New Fortress Energy NFE.O for about $1.1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

If the talks are successful, the deal could be announced as early as Thursday, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

The all-cash deal is expected to boost Excelerate's existing global footprint, with its LNG infrastructure currently deployed in countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Finland and Pakistan.

The transaction is also expected to help New Fortress address financial issues that forced it to consider offloading some of its premium assets.

Excelerate and New Fortress could not be immediately reached for comment.

Both Excelerate and New Fortress provide floating LNG import terminals, which allow countries to import natural gas without having to build large-scale facilities, which can cost tens of billions of dollars and take years to construct.

New Fortress' Jamaica business consists of the Montego Bay onshore terminal, the Old Harbour floating terminal, and the Clarendon combined heat and power plant that supplies 65% of the island's electricity, according to a November earnings presentation.

The company said earlier in March it hoped to raise about $2 billion from asset sales including its businesses in Jamaica and Brazil, adding that the proceeds would be used to reduce its debt pile, which stood at $8.4 billion at the end of 2024.

In October, New Fortress started exploring options, including bringing in strategic partners or potential asset sales, after the company was forced to defer shareholder dividend payments while it held talks with bondholders to address near-term debt maturities.

In November, it announced the close of a series of financing transactions, including the exchange of existing bonds for longer-dated notes and the issue of new equity, to ease its near-term cash crunch.