The company has also announced it has finalised all acquisition funding via an A$195 million share placement to institutional investors and A$465 million renounceable rights issue. The balance was acquired through internal sources and debt facilities.

Alinta had agreed last month to acquire Duke’s assets for A$1,690 million before transaction costs. The sale now means the company controls over A$5.7 billion of energy infrastructure in Australia and New Zealand, which include three gas pipelines, three Australian-sited gas-fired power stations and a gas-fired power station in New Zealand.

According to Alinta Chairman Tony Howarth, “The acquisition of Duke is about building long-term value in Alinta. It is an important acquisition in terms of reducing Alinta’s dependency on any one market, customer, regulatory regime or energy source.”

According to Alinta CEO Bob Browning, “The new operations [will be] built on Alinta’s existing core competencies of operating and managing energy infrastructure assets [but we have] no plans to divest any of the newly acquired assets at this stage and [will] continue to investigate opportunities to build its asset management businesses.”

“We are excited by the fact that we are not just purchasing pipelines and power stations, but also engaging a quality group of employees who will continue to manage these assets for us,” added Browning.