Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and White & Case have the lead roles on a $2.23 billion Chinese outbound energy deal.

Chinese utility giant State Grid International Development Ltd. is acquiring Chilquinta Energía S.A., the third-largest electricity distributor in Chile, from U.S.-based Sempra Energy for $2.23 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020, subject to approval by the Chilean antitrust authority and Bermuda's financial services regulator.

"[The deal] moves our company one step closer to completing the sale of our South American businesses and concentrating our investment strategy right here in North America," said Jeffrey Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of Sempra, in a statement. The U.S.-based power company is also in the process of selling its Peruvian business to another Chinese company, China Yangtze Power Co., for $3.59 billion in cash, which would make it the largest Chinese outbound deal announced so far this year.

According to Reuters, San Diego-based Sempra has been seeking to bolster its finances and increase its appeal to investors after a wave of wildfires in California exposed it and other utilities to legal liabilities.

Paul Weiss partners Judie Ng Shortell in Beijing and Mark Bergman in London are advising State Grid. They are supported by tax partner David Sicular in New York and litigation partners Christopher Boehning in New York and Christopher Frey in Tokyo.

White & Case New York partners Thomas Lauria and Marwan Azzi are leading a team advising Sempra. They are supported by partners Gregory Pryor, Michael Deyong, David Dreier, Henrik Patel, Arlene Arin Hahn, Damien Nyer and Seth Kerschner in New York; and Vivian Tsoi in Shanghai. The White & Case team, together with Beijing partner Grace Fan-Delatour, are also advising Sempra on the $3.59 billion sale of its Peruvian business.

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