(Yicai Global) April 27 -- China Yangtze Power, the world's biggest hydropower producer, has acquired a majority stake in Luz del Sur, Peru's largest electricity distributor, for USD3.6 billion as the biggest energy sector purchase among Chinese firms in recent years.

Yangtze Power, a unit of China Three Gorges, received all necessary regulatory approvals and bought an 83.6 percent stake in Luz del Sur as its first power distribution asset purchase in foreign mature markets, the Beijing-based company said in a statement on April 24. The tender that was won last September was completed online amid the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Luz del Sur, which serves the southern region of Lima, makes up 29 percent of the South American country's power distribution market share. The Lima-headquartered company's hydropower assets include 100,000 kilowatts of operational ones and 740,000 kilowatts in reserves.

Yangtze Power expects to make a reasonable return on investment as the target firm is an important local player with stable operations, it said earlier. The acquisition will also trigger a mandatory tender offer for the remaining 13.7 percent stake.

China Three Gorges has a wide portfolio of overseas assets in more than 40 countries and regions in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia. By the end of 2018, the tally stood at over CNY130 billion (USD18.4 billion).

Editor: Emmi Laine