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Acquisitions and divestments
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Acquisitions and divestments  
Acquisitions and divestments

2. Acquisitions and divestments

2012 Acquisitions

(a)
Canadian Hills

        On January 31, 2012, Atlantic Oklahoma Wind, LLC ("Atlantic OW"), a Delaware limited liability company and our wholly owned subsidiary, entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Apex Wind Energy Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company ("Apex"), pursuant to which Atlantic OW acquired a 51% interest in Canadian Hills Wind, LLC, an Oklahoma limited liability company ("Canadian Hills") for a nominal sum. Canadian Hills is the owner of a 300 MW wind energy project in the state of Oklahoma.

        On March 30, 2012, we completed the purchase of an additional 48% interest in Canadian Hills for a nominal amount, bringing our total interest in the project to 99%. Apex retained a 1% interest in the project. We also closed a $310 million non-recourse, project-level construction financing facility for the project, which included a $290 million construction loan and a $20 million 5-year letter of credit facility. In July 2012, we funded approximately $190 million of our equity contribution (net of financing costs). In December 2012, the project received tax equity investments in aggregate of $225 million from a consortium of four institutional tax equity investors along with an approximately $44 million tax equity investment of our own. The project's outstanding construction loan was repaid by the proceeds from these tax equity investments, decreasing the project's short-term debt by $265 million as of December 31, 2012. Canadian Hills has no debt at September 30, 2013. On May 2, 2013, we syndicated our $44 million tax equity investment in Canadian Hills to an institutional investor and received net cash proceeds of $42.1 million. The syndication of our interest completes the sale of 100% of Canadian Hills' $269 million of tax equity interests. The cash proceeds will be held for general corporate purposes.

        We own 99% of the project and consolidate it in our consolidated financial statements. Income attributable to the tax equity investors is classified as noncontrolling interests and is allocated utilizing the hypothetical liquidation book value method ("HLBV").

2013 Divestments

(a)
Gregory

        On April 2, 2013, we and the other owners of Gregory, entered into a purchase and sale agreement with an affiliate of NRG Energy, Inc. to sell the project for approximately $274.2 million, including working capital adjustments. The sale of Gregory closed on August 7, 2013 resulting in a gain on sale of $30.4 million that was recorded in equity in earnings of unconsolidated affiliates in the consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013. We received net cash proceeds for our ownership interest of approximately $34.6 million in the aggregate, after repayment of project-level debt and transaction expenses. Approximately $5 million of these proceeds will be held in escrow for up to one year after the closing date. We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes.

(b)
Path 15

        On March 11, 2013, we entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Duke-American Transmission Company, a joint venture between Duke Energy Corporation and American Transmission Co., to sell our interests in the Path 15 transmission line ("Path 15"). The sale closed on April 30, 2013 and we received net cash proceeds from the sale, including working capital adjustments, of approximately $52.0 million, plus a management agreement termination fee of $4.0 million, for a total sale price of approximately $56.0 million. The cash proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. All project level debt issued by Path 15, totaling $137.2 million, transferred with the sale. Path 15 was accounted for as an asset held for sale in the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2012 and as a component of discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012. See Note 11, Assets held for sale and discontinued operations, for further information.

(c)
Auburndale, Lake and Pasco

        On January 30, 2013, we entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the sale of our Auburndale Power Partners, L.P. ("Auburndale"), Lake CoGen, Ltd. ("Lake") and Pasco CoGen, Ltd. ("Pasco") projects (collectively, the "Florida Projects") for approximately $140 million, including working capital adjustments. The sale closed on April 12, 2013 and we received net cash proceeds of approximately $117 million in the aggregate, after repayment of project-level debt at Auburndale and settlement of all outstanding natural gas swap agreements at Lake and Auburndale. This includes approximately $92 million received at closing and cash distributions from the Florida Projects of approximately $25 million received since January 1, 2013. We used a portion of the net proceeds from the sale to fully repay our senior credit facility, which had an outstanding balance of approximately $64.1 million on the closing date. The remaining cash proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. The Florida Projects were accounted for as assets held for sale in the consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2012 and are a component of discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012. See Note 11, Assets held for sale and discontinued operations, for further information.

2012 Divestments

(a)
Badger Creek

        On August 2, 2012, we entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the sale of our 50% ownership interest in the Badger Creek project. On September 4, 2012, the transaction closed and we received gross proceeds of $3.7 million. As a result of the pending sale, we recorded an impairment charge in the second quarter of 2012 of $3.0 million in equity in earnings from unconsolidated affiliates in the consolidated statements of operations.

(b)
Primary Energy Recycling Corporation

        On February 16, 2012, we entered into an agreement with Primary Energy Recycling Corporation ("Primary Energy" or "PERC"), whereby PERC agreed to purchase our 7,462,830.33 common membership interests in Primary Energy Recycling Holdings, LLC ("PERH") (14.3% of PERH total interests) for approximately $24.2 million, plus a management agreement termination fee of approximately $6.0 million, for a total sale price of $30.2 million. The transaction closed in May 2012 and we recorded a $0.6 million gain on sale of our equity investment.