A Blackstone Group LP unit won a bankruptcy auction with a $126 million offer for a coal-fired Texas plant being sold by Optim Energy LLC, the power producer controlled by billionaire Bill Gates’s investment firm, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Major Oak Power LLC, an investment vehicle created by Blackstone to make the acquisition, beat a unit of ArcLight Capital Partners LLC, which bid $121.5 million at Monday’s auction, according to court papers filed yesterday. The Blackstone unit more than doubled its first offer of about $60 million for Optim’s 305-megawatt Twin Oaks plant, according to court filings. ArcLight’s affiliate replaced Major Oak as the lead bidder for the plant with a bid of about $82 million.
