Korean Western Power acquires stake in Pioneer Gas Vaish Luthra and Mckenzie advise

Korean Western Power Co, a subsidiary of South Korea’s $38.7 billion power giant KEPCO, has acquired 22.7 percent stake in Pioneer Gas Power for an undisclosed sum..Pioneer Gas Power, part of the Hyderabad-based Pioneer Group promoted by K Sudhir Rao and K Suhan Rao, is setting up a 388 MW gas-based power plant in Maharashtra..Vaish Associates advised the Promoters with a team led by Mumbai Corporate and Infrastructure Partner Martand Singh along with Bangalore Corporate Head Vikas Keyal and Associate Nanditha Balaram..The Hong Kong office of Baker Mckenzie acted as International legal counsel to Korean Western Power. The Mckenzie team was led by Special Counsel Winton Kim along with Associate Sun Kyun Lim..Luthra & Luthra acted as India counsel to Korean Western Power. The Luthra team was led by Managing Associate Manmeet Singh..According to VCCircle, Korean Wester Power plans to subsequently increase its stake to 40 percent in a phased manner. The project is expected to cost USD 250 million and the project is estimated to be operational by end of 2013..KEPCO is the largest electric utility in South Korea with revenues of $38.7 billion and is responsible for almost 90 per cent of South Korea’s electricity generation. Its subsidiary KOWEPO is engaged in power generation and operates thermal power stations & combined cycle power plants. KEPCO operates about 80,000 MW of power plants in Korea.