AES Oasis, the holding company for four power plants in the Middle East and Pakistan, will start talks with the highest bidders for three of the four plants before the end of October.

According to sources close to the sale, seven bidders submitted proposals to the company’s advisers by the 1 October deadline.

The advisers have asked for clarifications on the bids and are now seeking to start advanced negotiations with several of the highest bidders. “We are optimistic that the sale can be concluded by late November,” says one source involved in the sale.

The plants for sale are the Barka plant in Oman, and Lal Pir and Pak Gen, both in Pakistan. AES has asked companies to suggest prices for either individual power plants or all three plants as a combined package.

The source says AES has held preliminary talks with six of the potential investors about the purchase of a minority stake in a fourth plant in the region – its Amman East facility in Jordan.

“Our expectation is that most of the bidders for the three other plants will not be interested in Jordan as it is a smaller stake that is for sale,” says the source.

AES manages the regional power plant investments of the US’ AES Corporation and Jeddah’s International Development Bank Infrastructure Fund.