TransAlta goes green

Article Excerpt

TRANSALTA CORP. $22 (Toronto symbol TA; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 197.9 million; Market cap: $4.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.5; SI Rating: Average) will pay roughly $755 million for Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. (Toronto symbol KHD), which owns and operates 21 power-generating facilities in Alberta, B.C., Ontario and Quebec. These include 12 hydroelectric plants, eight wind farms and one biomass plant, which generates power by burning plant materials and wood waste from lumber mills. TransAlta will also assume Canadian Hydro’s debt of $845 million. Adding Canadian Hydro will increase TransAlta’s generating capacity by 9%, to 8,657 megawatts. Moreover, about 22% of that total would come from renewable sources, compared to 15% today. TransAlta uses coal to generate 60% of its electricity, so increasing its renewable-energy capacity will help it comply with the tougher environmental regulations that will likely come into force over the next few years. TransAlta holds cash of just $54 million, so it will have to borrow the funds…