Australia's Commonwealth Bank unit leads acquisition of UK electricity network

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Colonial First State Global Asset Management, a unit of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd, said Monday it has acquired United Utilities Electricity Ltd (UUE) in the UK for 1.64 billion pounds sterling.

Colonial led a consortium of infrastructure investors in the acquisition of UUE, which is one of only 14 regulated electricity distribution networks in England, Wales and Scotland. Other members of the consortium include JPMorgan Asset Management.

Colonial will hold a 50 percent stake in UUE, which will initially be funded and held by the Commonwealth Bank.

UUE has about 56,000 kilometres of underground and overhead cables in northwest England, serving around 2.3 million customers in the Greater Manchester region, the counties of Lancashire and Cumbria and parts of Cheshire.

(1 US dollar = 1.14 Australian dollars, 0.485053 sterling)

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