Emera to sell gas-fired power plants to Carlyle for $590 million

(Reuters) - Emera Inc said on Monday it will sell three of its natural gas-fired power plants in New England to Carlyle Group for $590 million, as part of its efforts to cut debt.

This transaction is part of the three-year funding plan that the energy company introduced during its third-quarter earnings results, said Chief Executive Officer Scott Balfour.

Emera's three units, Bridgeport Energy, Tiverton Power and Rumford Power, will be sold to Cogentrix, an affiliate of Carlyle Group. Together, the facilities have a power generation capacity of about 1,100 megawatts.

Emera, which invests in energy generation and transmission, said the proceeds from the sale will be used to cut its debt.

It had a debt of C$13.9 billion ($10.52 billion) in 2017, according to a regulatory filing in April.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019.

J.P. Morgan is Emera's financial adviser on the transaction, the company said.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)