Transalta Completes $18 Million Deal for Mega

CALGARY -- - TransAlta Corporation has announced that regulatory approval has been received and it has completed the acquisition of a 50 per cent interest in Merchant Energy Group of the Americas (MEGA) for approximately $18 million Cdn.

MEGA, established in 1998 by Gener SA, a Chilean-based electric generator, specializes in the commercial management of power generation assets in the United States. The transaction had been announced April 13, 2000.

"We are pleased the acquisition was completed quickly," said Steve Snyder, TransAlta's President and CEO. "We can now proceed with our plan to increase gas fired generation in the United States."

MEGA, based in Annapolis, Maryland, has business relationships with power producers including a contract to optimize a 1,400-megawatt portfolio of power plants in the Northeastern U.S.

TransAlta is an international electric energy company with about $6 billion in assets. The company is focused on achieving strong earnings growth and enhancing its competitive edge as a low-cost operator of generation and transmission assets, and a successful developer of gas-fired independent power projects. The company is concentrating its growth in Canada, the United States, Australia and Mexico. TransAlta owns and operates more than 8,000 MW of generation plus significant transmission assets in Alberta.

CONTACT: TransAlta Corporation Peter Symons, Senior Media Relations Specialist 403/267-7577 403/213-7041 (Pager) or TransAlta Corporation Bart Demosky, Director, Investor Relations, 403/267-2520 or 1-800-387-3598 in Canada and U.S. E-mail: investor_relations@transalta.com Website: www.transalta.com URL: http://www.businesswire.com Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page.