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[AES LOGO]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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CONTACT: KENNETH R. WOODCOCK
(703) 522-1315
AES REACHES AGREEMENT WITH TOTALFINAELF TO SELL ARGENTINE
ASSETS OF GENER
ARLINGTON, VA, NOVEMBER 28, 2000 -- The AES Corporation today announced that it
had entered into an agreement with TotalFinaElf providing, in the event that AES
acquires control of Gener S.A., and following shareholder approval, for the sale
by Gener to TotalFinaElf of all of Gener's Argentine electricity generation and
transmission assets. The aggregate purchase price for the Argentine assets,
including a loan held by Gener in Piedra del Aguila, is approximately $652
million. In addition to customary conditions, the sale would be subject to
completion of satisfactory due diligence by TotalFinaElf.
Naveed Ismail, President of AES Andes, stated "The agreement with TotalFinaElf
puts the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders and all the parties in
the best possible position. For AES, the transaction would permit Gener to
increase the focus on Chile, its most important market, and makes sense for AES
due to existing business concentration in Argentina. For Gener, it improves the
risk profile of its activities and reduces substantially its consolidated
indebtedness. The agreement also gives TotalFinaElf the opportunity to
participate in the Argentine assets originally sought from Gener."
As previously announced, AES is offering to purchase all outstanding Gener
American Depositary Shares in the U.S. for AES common stock having a value of
$16 per ADS and 3,466,600,000 Gener shares in Chile at the Chilean peso
equivalent price per share in cash. The AES offers are conditioned on, among
other things, the amendment of Gener's Bylaws to remove the provisions limiting
to 20% the ownership of shares by any one person or group. Gener has called a
shareholders meeting for December 12, 2000 for shareholders to vote on the
proposed bylaw amendments.
AES is a leading global power company comprised of competitive generation,
distribution and retail supply businesses in Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh,
Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Georgia, Hungary, India,
Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Sri Lanka, the United
Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.
The company's generating assets include interests in one hundred and thirty
seven facilities totaling over 49 gigawatts of capacity. AES's electricity
distribution network has over 920,000 km of conductor and associated rights of
way and sells over 126,000 gigawatt hours per year to over 17 million end-use
customers. In addition, through its various retail electricity supply
businesses, the company sells electricity to over 154,000 end-use customers.
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AES is dedicated to providing electricity worldwide in a socially responsible
way.
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