OREANDA-NEWS. Colombia awarded a majority stake in power utility Isagen to a consortium led by Canada?s Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) as the sole bidder, the culmination of a long and controversial privatization effort.

BAM subsidiary Brookfield Colombia Investments LP and unspecified partners won 57.61pc of Isagen?s shares with an offer equivalent to the auction minimum of 4,130 pesos per share for 1,570,490,767 shares up for auction.

The price totals Ps6.49 trillion or $2.2bn at the current exchange rate, BAM said.

The transaction is expected to close on 26 January.

Shares of Isagen settled yesterday on the Colombian stock exchange at Ps3,260/share.

The government in December raised the price floor from an earlier Ps5.25 trillion in response to the sharp depreciation of the peso against the US dollar over the past year.

Isagen accounts for approximately 19pc of the Colombia's 15.9GW of installed generation capacity. Hydroelectricity accounts for the bulk of the utility?s assets.

BAM and Chilean generator Colb?n were the only two companies to prequalify on 4 January to participate in the Isagen auction, but Colbun later pulled out.

France's Engie had earlier expressed interest in buying the asset, but did not move forward.

The process has sparked legal battles waged by opponents on both ends of Colombia?s political spectrum since the sale plan kicked off in 2009. In May 2015, Colombia's state council court ordered a four-month suspension of the sale process.

Congressional opponents yesterday attempted to block the sale on the grounds that holding a competitive auction with one bidder was illegal. The state council denied the notion and let the sale proceed.

Among the outspoken critics is former president Alvaro Uribe, who publicly appealed to the courts to block today?s sale because of the sole bid, based on a previous court-ordered suspension of another state-owned asset for the same reason.

Even if today?s sale is consummated, the wider controversy over privatizing public-sector assets is likely to endure, with opponents demanding congressional approval for future sales.

The Colombian government, pummeled by the collapse in commodity prices, plans to use the proceeds from the Isagen auction for a Ps47 trillion road-building campaign and social programs tied to a government peace deal with the country?s main rebel group Farc. A deal is expected to be signed by 23 March.

BAM is an energy and infrastructure-focused fund with around $225bn under management, including 249 generators with a total capacity over 7,000MW. Elsewhere in Latin America, BAM leads a consortium that owns Chile?s main transmission company Transelec.