ALLENTOWN, Pa.---PP&L Global, Inc. Thursday (7/1) completed the acquisition of additional shares in Empresas Emel S.A. PP&L Global, PP&L Resources' (NYSE: PPL) international development subsidiary, now has full operational control of one of Chile's largest electricity distribution companies.

Paul T. Champagne, president of PP&L Global, said that PP&L Global purchased an additional 29.2 percent interest in Emel for $95 million, bringing PP&L Global's ownership to 66.7 percent of the company. PP&L Global purchased the Emel shares from Las Espigas S.A., Gavilla S.A. and individuals related to the Las Espigas Group. The Las Espigas Group has been PP&L Global's partner in Chile since 1997.

"Emel is an excellent investment because it is a strong and expanding company in one of the fastest-growing and most stable economies in Latin America," said Champagne.

Emel provides electricity distribution service to about 800,000 customers in Chile, Bolivia and El Salvador. With this investment, PP&L Global now has investments and commitments totaling about $2.4 billion in Europe, Latin America and various U.S. locations.

In addition to Emel, PP&L Global's diversified investments include South Western Electricity plc, or SWEB, an electricity distribution company in the United Kingdom with 1.2 million customers. PP&L Global also is playing an essential role in PP&L Resources' five-year plan to more than double the size of its U.S. electricity generation portfolio to about 20,000 megawatts.

PP&L Resources, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company based in Allentown, Pa. It also is the parent company of PP&L, Inc., which delivers electricity to 1.3 million customers in eastern and central Pennsylvania, generates electricity, and markets wholesale energy in the United States and in Canada; and PP&L EnergyPlus Co., which sells competitively priced energy and energy services to newly deregulated markets.