Making its third purchase of some of Enron Corp.’s European metals trading businesses, Sempra Energy’s Stamford, CT-based trading arm Tuesday shelled out another $24 million in cash to acquire Liverpool (UK)-based Henry Bath Ltd and subsidiaries, a provider of warehousing services for non-ferrous metals in Europe and Asia.

Sempra Energy Trading purchased the companies from Enron and Dipankar Ghosh of PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the joint administrators of Enron Europe. The sale price is subject to adjustment based on the final audit of the net assets, Sempra said in its formal announcement, which noted that the transaction is expected to be accretive to Sempra Energy’s 2002 earnings.

Operating nine warehouses in Europe and the Far East, Henry Bath Ltd maintains what Sempra called “a leading position in the industry,” storing about 18% of all non-ferrous metals in the London Metals Exchange-approved warehouses. The warehouses are located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Singapore.

Getting the warehousing function strengthens Sempra Energy Trading’s newly acquired metals product line, according to David Messer, president of Sempra’s trading operation. “Now we will be able to offer clients not only a wide variety of non-ferrous metals and metals concentrates, but also the capacity to store them at locations around the globe.”

In February, Sempra Energy Trading completed the purchase of Enron Metals Ltd, the leading metals trader on the London Metals Exchange, and in March, it completed an agreement to acquire the metals concentrates business of Enron Metals & Commodity Corp.

With the earlier acquisition of Enron Metals Ltd, Sempra retained the company’s experienced and successful top management, which also oversaw the warehousing business. Thomas McKeever, now chairman of Sempra Metals Ltd, will head the Henry Bath Ltd companies, while Michael Hutchinson, president and CEO of Sempra Metals Ltd, will serve as a director of Henry Bath Ltd.

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