UPDATE:BG Group To Sell 40% Stake In Chile LNG Plant For $352 Million

BG Group PLC (BRGYY, BG.LN) said Friday it would sell its 40% stake in a Chilean liquefied-natural-gas plant to Enagas SA (ENGGY) for up to $352 million as it seeks flexibility to fund aggressive spending plans.

U.K. natural-gas giant BG said it had agreed to sell the 40% equity interest in GNL Quintero SA to Spanish gas grid operator Enagas.

BG is accelerating steps to divest non-core assets after announcing $22 billion worth of capital expenditure over the next two years in February.

"The agreement reached today is another important milestone in the successful execution of BG Group's funding diversification and portfolio rationalisation program," BG Group Chief Executive Sir Frank Chapman said in a statement.

BG said the sale would be split into two tranches, each costing $176 million for a 20% equity in GNLQ. The transactions are expected to be complete by the end of 2012.

The regasification terminal in Quintero, Chile, has a capacity of 2.5 million metric tons per annum. BG said the sale doesn't impact its 21-year contract to supply up to 1.7 million tons per annum of LNG to the Chilean market out to 2030.

Enagas said its purchase fits with its strategic plan of purchasing assets that are core to its business. Enagas "has been studying such acquisitions provided they fit with the levels of profitability and indebtedness under [its] Strategic Plan."

Earlier this month, BG confirmed it was in discussions to sell its 60.1% interest in Comgás, Brazil's largest gas distribution company, to fuel and lubricants distributor Cosan S.A. Industria e Comercio.

BG Group is also looking to sell 15% out of its 93.75% stake in Australia's Queensland Curtis LNG project, a deal that could net it as much as $2 billion, a person familiar with the matter said last month.

-By Benoit Faucon and Alex MacDonald; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]