When it comes to Mexico’s wealthiest individuals, one name springs to mind: Carlos Slim. Germán Larrea, on the other hand, remains far less well known to the general public. Yet he is worth tens of billions of dollars, controls one of the world’s largest mining groups and has just signed one of the most significant energy deals of the year in Mexico. At 72, the head of Grupo México maintains a rare level of discretion. Rarely seen in the media and absent from the social scene, he embodies another facet of Latin American capitalism: that of an industrialist who prefers mines, railways and power stations to television studios.
On 27 April 2026, Grupo México announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to combine its electricity generation assets with those of Saavi Energía, one of Mexico’s leading private electricity generators. The transaction is set to create a platform owned 70 per cent by Grupo México and 30 per cent by Global Infrastructure Partners, which is now part of BlackRock. The combined entity is expected to have an installed capacity of 4,510MW, comprising 14 power stations located in areas of high demand and a project portfolio of nearly 5,000MW. According to financial information published following the announcement, the platform is valued at around $5.5bn.
At first glance, the case appears to be strictly a Mexican affair. A local industrial group is consolidating its energy assets. An American investor retains a stake in the company. Power stations supply a domestic market under strain. But the case tells a broader story: that of industrial assets which have become global financial instruments, structured through holding companies, refinanced on international bond markets and regulated by several different regulatory bodies simultaneously.
Operation Saavi, approved by Brussels this week
Germán Larrea entered the energy sector via the copper industry. Grupo México was built around mining, before expanding into rail transport, infrastructure and energy. As one of the world’s leading copper producers, with assets in Mexico, Peru and the United States, it is in a particularly strong position at a time when copper is once again becoming strategic for electrification, power grids, electric vehicles and low-carbon technologies. But this also exposes the group to a very simple question: who controls the energy needed by the industry that holds the key to part of our future competitiveness?
This is where Operation Saavi comes into its own. Mexico is attracting new industrial investment driven by nearshoring – the relocation of operations to a country close to the US market. This trend affects the automotive, electronics and logistics sectors, as well as industrial components and, increasingly, data centres. All these projects share a common need: a reliable, affordable and readily available electricity supply. In this industrial landscape, power stations are becoming just as strategic as mines or railways.
Saavi Energía is not a start-up that has appeared out of nowhere. Its history began with InterGen México, which was founded in 1995. The company built its first power station in the late 1990s, before being acquired by Actis two decades later. In 2018, the British investment firm acquired InterGen’s Mexican assets and renamed the company Saavi Energía. In 2021, Global Infrastructure Partners became the majority shareholder. In 2022, Saavi emerged as Mexico’s second-largest private electricity generator following the addition of Tierra Mojada to its portfolio.
The platform has very tangible assets: combined-cycle power stations, a solar power plant, gas compressor stations, mobile turbines and associated gas pipelines. It primarily serves the Mexican market, whilst also providing reserve capacity to certain markets in the United States. In other words, behind the name of a financial company lie megawatts, gas, physical infrastructure and industrial customers.
The arrival of Grupo México shifts the balance. Until now, Saavi had been an asset controlled by an infrastructure investor. Following the transaction, Grupo México is set to take a majority stake. GIP, BlackRock’s infrastructure platform, retains a 30 per cent stake. The message is clear: industrial control is passing to the Mexican group, whilst the financial investor remains committed to long-term value creation.
BlackRock’s role here warrants clarification. The world’s leading asset manager does not purchase Mexican power stations directly in the same way one might buy a listed share. The transaction is channelled through Global Infrastructure Partners, a global infrastructure specialist acquired by BlackRock in 2024. This acquisition has strengthened the US group’s presence in private markets, a sector where assets are no longer limited to portfolios of shares or bonds, but also include airports, networks, pipelines, data centres and power stations. In this context, Mexican energy is becoming a long-term yield asset.
It is at this point that Luxembourg comes into the picture. Not as the location of the power stations, nor as the location of the customers, but as the legal hub of the asset that circulates between industrialists, funds and regulators. In its decision of 19 June 2026, the European Commission does not refer solely to Grupo México, GIP and BlackRock. It explicitly identifies Saavi Energia, a Luxembourg-based company, over which joint control is to be acquired by Grupo México and Global Infrastructure Management, the US entity ultimately controlled by BlackRock.
Debt refinancing from Luxembourg
Saavi’s history in Luxembourg sheds light on how this works: it has become the hub for the ownership and financing of energy assets located several thousand kilometres away. In February 2025, Saavi Energia issued a $1.1bn bond, comprising ten-year senior unsecured notes bearing a coupon of 8.875% and maturing in 2035. The transaction is intended, in particular, to refinance part of its subsidiaries’ existing debt. It also marks the shift from project-centred financing to financing driven by the holding company. Luxembourg is therefore no longer merely a vehicle for holding a stake: it has become the platform through which the energy group’s international debt is structured.
This aspect is key to understanding the 2026 deal. Grupo México is not merely purchasing electricity generation assets. It is entering an already financialised structure, comprising a Luxembourg-based holding company, operational subsidiaries, international bonds and a global investor holding a stake in the capital. What is being brought together, therefore, is not just power stations. It is two ways of financing infrastructure: that of a Mexican industrial group backed by copper, and that of a global asset manager backed by private markets.
The European Commission is intervening in this matter. Brussels has not approved the Luxembourg-based company. It has authorised the merger. In its decision, it notes that Grupo México, via a US company, and Global Infrastructure Management, controlled by BlackRock, will acquire joint control of Saavi Energia and Controladora de Infraestructura Energética México. Following its assessment, it has decided not to oppose the transaction and has declared it compatible with the internal market and the EEA Agreement.
Here again, the contrast is striking. The power stations are in Mexico. The demand for electricity is Mexican. The billionaire is Mexican. The financial investor is American. The target company is based in Luxembourg. And the merger authorisation must be granted by Brussels. In a single transaction, we see the modern chain of capital at work: local physical assets, international financing, a European holding company and supranational regulatory control.
This is what makes the story more than just a report on a merger. A virtually unknown Mexican billionaire, an American asset management giant, a Luxembourg-based company and a European authorisation are all linked to Mexican power stations. Copper finances energy. Energy underpins industry. Industry attracts capital. And that capital flows through Luxembourg. The Saavi deal alone encapsulates a new geography of global investment. Infrastructure is no longer solely national. It remains rooted in a particular territory, but its capital flows across several continents. Mexico provides the assets and the growth in electricity generation. BlackRock brings financial depth. Grupo México takes industrial control. Luxembourg organises the structure. Brussels ensures a level playing field. Behind the scenes of a $5.5bn deal, the entire global economy is on display.
