en.Wedoany.com Reported - The European Commission has approved the joint acquisition of Saavi Energía and Controladora de Infraestructura Energética México (CIEM) by Grupo México and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), controlled by BlackRock. This transaction clears the last major regulatory hurdle before closing in the third quarter of 2026, creating Mexico's largest private power generation platform with 14 operating plants totaling 4,510 MW of installed capacity, plus a 5,000 MW development pipeline.
The European Commission reviewed the transaction under the EU Merger Regulation and concluded that it raises no competition concerns due to its limited impact on the European Economic Area.
The agreement, announced in April, stipulates that Grupo México will hold 70% ownership of Saavi Energía, while Global Infrastructure Management, through Global Infrastructure Partners, retains the remaining 30%. The merger will create a diversified power generation platform valued at $5.5 billion, with 14 power plants across various regions of Mexico, totaling 4,510 MW of installed capacity, plus a project portfolio of approximately 5,000 MW. Grupo México will contribute $880 million to this venture.
In addition to the operating assets, the platform holds a project portfolio of nearly 5,000 MW, providing room to expand generation capacity in the coming years.
This transaction is strategically significant for Grupo México. By controlling its own power generation sources, the industrial group ensures self-supply for its mining and metallurgy operations, improving cost structures and operational resilience in the production of high-demand industrial metals like copper. Copper is a fundamental material for electrification infrastructure, used in electric vehicles, charging networks, data center power systems, and renewable energy installations. Grupo México's subsidiary, Southern Copper, is one of the world's largest copper producers. An in-house power generation platform helps reduce volatile input costs for its mining operations and insulates it from grid reliability risks and electricity price fluctuations within the regulated system of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).
This acquisition is part of a long-term joint strategy between Grupo México and Global Infrastructure Partners to build and consolidate a competitive private power generation platform within Mexico's energy landscape. BlackRock completed its acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners in October 2024, in a deal valued at approximately $12.5 billion, creating one of the world's largest infrastructure investment managers, overseeing roughly $170 billion in client real assets. Global Infrastructure Partners, already a significant investor in Mexican energy infrastructure prior to the BlackRock acquisition, considers Saavi Energía one of its flagship assets in Latin America.
The Grupo México-BlackRock alliance differs in structure from the Cox-Iberdrola transaction completed in April 2026. In that deal, Cox directly acquired Iberdrola's Mexican assets, becoming the sole operator of a 2,600 MW portfolio. In contrast, the Saavi transaction retains Global Infrastructure Partners as an institutional financial partner holding a 30% stake, providing a continuous capital deployment mechanism for the development pipeline.
The approval of this transaction comes amid a reshaping of the private sector structure in Mexico's electricity market. In its first competitive tender in June, the CFE awarded 37 hybrid development projects totaling 7,411 MW, establishing a 54%/46% public-private hybrid structure as a new framework for renewable energy development. Cox became the largest private electricity supplier after acquiring Iberdrola. Following the integration of the Grupo México-BlackRock alliance, it becomes Mexico's largest private power generation platform by installed capacity, at 4,510 MW, surpassing Cox's 2,600 MW.
Grupo México stated that this asset portfolio will allow Saavi to consolidate its position as a leading private power generator meeting the country's electricity demand. The deployment of the new platform's development pipeline will depend on whether it intersects with the CFE's hybrid development framework, acts as a counterparty in joint venture structures, or primarily develops through bilateral power purchase agreements with industrial and commercial consumers.
