TAQA pulls out of $1.6 billion deal with Jaiprakash Power

It had agreed to buy two power plants from the Indian company

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) is pulling out of a $1.6 billion deal to buy two Indian hydroelectric power plants because of "a change in strategy", a senior TAQA official told Reuters on Thursday.

The official, who declined to be named under briefing rules, did not give further details of the decision.

In March, TAQA said a consortium led by it had agreed to buy the two power plants from Jaiprakash Power Ventures .The consortium was to spend $616 million on equity in the plants, and in addition take over their non-recourse project debt, bringing the total enterprise value to around $1.6 billion, a TAQA spokesman said at the time.

State-run TAQA, with 51% of the consortium, was to control the operations and management of both plants.

PSP Investments, one of Canada's largest institutional investors, would own 39% and an infrastructure fund run by India's IDFC Alternatives was to hold 10%.