Japan's Mitsui and partners to exit Mexico's gas power project

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co. is seen in Tokyo, Japan, January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Four Japanese companies, including Mitsui & Co, have agreed to sell their entire stakes in Mexican power plant operator MT Falcon Holdings to British fund Actis GP LLP for an undisclosed figure, the companies said on Thursday.

The divestiture from Falcon, which runs 2.23 gigawatts (GW) of gas-fired plants, comes amid a growing global trend away from fossil fuels in the race to cut harmful carbon dioxide emissions and slow climate change.

Trading house Mitsui, which has a stake of 40% in MT Falcon, said the deal followed a review of its asset portfolio. It plans to book a loss of 7.8 billion yen ($71 million) from the sale in the current financial year ending March 31, it added.

City gas provider Tokyo Gas, which holds a stake of 30% in the project, and Japan's biggest power generator JERA, the owner of a 20% stake, said their decisions were also part of portfolio reviews, but declined to comment on financial impact.

Tohoku Electric Power, which has a stake of 10% in the project, confirmed the plan, but did not comment on the reason or its financial impact.

Mitsui and JERA decided this year to sell their stakes in Indonesia's PT Paiton Energy, which runs coal power plants.

JERA is a joint venture of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc.

($1=109.2800 yen)

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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