Enron Reportedly to Manage Bufete Industrial

Enron Corp., the world’s largest energy trader, agreed to manage Bufete Industrial and provide project financing to rescue the Mexican construction company from bankruptcy, a person familiar with the negotiations said. Enron is expected to sign a three-year agreement with Bufete to provide a management team and financing for the company’s ongoing projects, such as a $170-million oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The other major project for Bufete is to build a gasoline plant at a Colombian refinery for Ecopetrol at a cost of $76 million. Enron, which wouldn’t comment on the agreement, will receive a cash management fee plus eventual equity in Bufete as part of the agreement. The deal ended speculation that Grupo Iconsa, a local construction company, would take over Bufete. The Enron agreement could rescue what was once one of Mexico’s largest construction and engineering companies, employing about 2,500 engineers at its peak.