Argentina’s Top Power Firm Sells Silver Stake for Six Times What It Paid
Key Facts
Argentina’s mining push has turned a tax-break regime into a magnet for investment and for political suspicion. The country’s biggest private power producer has now sold a silver-mine stake at six times its cost.
Central Puerto, Argentina’s largest private electricity generator, said on 16 September 2026 that it had sold its entire stake in AbraSilver. The Canadian-listed miner owns Diablillos, a silver and gold project in the northwest, and the sale raised US$163.1 million.
Why This Matters Beyond Argentina
Central Puerto runs thermal, hydro and renewable plants with about 7,115 megawatts of capacity, according to El Cronista. Its shares trade in Buenos Aires and in New York, so the deal reaches foreign portfolios directly.
In 2024 the company began buying into mining, whose exports reached a record US$6.037 billion in 2025. Gold made up about 68% of that total, followed by lithium and silver, official data compiled by Panorama Minero show.
The sale matters to investors because nearly all the cash is going straight back to shareholders. It matters politically because the project won benefits under RIGI, a tax-break regime approved by Economy Minister Luis Caputo.
Opposition figures now question whether that approval drove the gain, a claim no authority has examined or upheld. Peso figures use the central bank’s reference rate of 1,512.33 pesos per dollar for 18 September 2026 (BCRA Communication A 3500).
What Central Puerto Sold
Central Puerto held the shares through Proener, a wholly owned subsidiary, according to its February 2025 release. It bought a first block of about 4% in April 2024 for US$7.1 million, iProfesional reported.
A second purchase of US$18.4 million in January 2025 lifted the holding to 9.9%, making it AbraSilver’s largest shareholder. In total the stake cost US$25.5 million and sold for US$163.1 million, a gain of about US$137.6 million.
That is roughly 6.4 times the money invested, in less than two and a half years. The company said it had reviewed the investment and concluded the holding had ceased to be strategic, EFE reported via Infobae.
The buyer or buyers of the shares were not named in the announcement. Central Puerto keeps a 35% stake in 3C Lithium, which is developing the Tres Cruces lithium project in Catamarca.
How the Special Dividend Works
Central Puerto’s board approved paying out the sale proceeds as an extraordinary cash dividend. The payout totals 247.3 billion pesos (US$163.6 million), according to iProfesional and the company’s dividend notice.
That works out at 164 pesos (US$0.11) per ordinary share, according to the notice as summarised by Panabee. El Cronista put the payout at about US$1.08 per New York share.
Shareholders on record on 18 September qualify, and payment is due on 25 September. Foreign holders may ask for payment in US dollars if the company can use the MULC, the official currency market, that day.
The deadline to make that request through a financial intermediary is 22 September, according to the notice. A 7% income-tax withholding applies to the payment, the notice says.
How Argentina’s RIGI Regime Works
RIGI, the Large Investment Incentive Regime, was created by Law 27,742, the omnibus reform known as Ley Bases. Projects above a threshold, generally US$200 million, pay a flat 25% income tax instead of the standard graduated rate.
They also receive 30 years of regulatory stability and pay no export duties from the third year. Their freedom to keep export dollars rises in steps, reaching full access in the fourth year, the Economy Ministry says.
By mid-August, 21 projects had been approved with combined investment of US$46.7 billion, La Nación reported. Another 23 projects worth about US$152.3 billion were awaiting a decision, according to the same report.
Mining and oil and gas dominate the approved list, with projects concentrated in San Juan, Río Negro, Catamarca and Salta. For a mine not yet built, such terms change expected after-tax returns rather than current earnings.
Diablillos and Its Tax-Break Approval
Diablillos sits on the high Puna plateau between Salta and Catamarca provinces, about 160 kilometres southwest of Salta city. AbraSilver said on 2 March 2026 that Caputo had confirmed the project’s RIGI approval on 27 February.
The formal approval came in Resolution 562, published in the Official Bulletin on 11 May 2026, EconoJournal reported. It covers an initial investment of US$481.7 million, with US$352.4 million to be spent in the first two years.
Infobae reported that operations are scheduled to start in July 2029, with 2,013 direct and indirect jobs expected. AbraSilver’s feasibility study, as summarised by iProfesional, puts capital spending near US$760 million and after-tax value near US$3 billion.
Reserves stand at 183.5 million ounces of silver and 1.76 million ounces of gold, according to the same summary. “Securing RIGI approval is truly a transformational milestone for Diablillos,” AbraSilver’s chief executive said in March.
The Criticism and the Caputo Question
Rodolfo Tailhade, a Kirchnerist opposition deputy, publicly questioned the deal after the announcement. He pointed to what he called a coincidence between RIGI, the AbraSilver sale and gains of US$138 million, radio station LU17 reported.
La Arena, a newspaper in La Pampa province, reported that he called the deal a “pasamanos”, meaning a quick handoff. La Política Online, a political news site, described Central Puerto as linked to businessman Nicolás “Nicky” Caputo, calling him the minister’s cousin.
La Nación reported in December 2022 that Nicolás Caputo had sold his stake of nearly 3% in Central Puerto. No court, regulator or prosecutor has found wrongdoing by Luis Caputo, Nicolás Caputo or Central Puerto.
The Company’s Side
Central Puerto has presented the sale as a portfolio decision, saying the stake was no longer strategic. LU17, summarising the company’s position, noted that mining valuations move with permits, feasibility work and construction readiness.
The same report said available documents do not support attributing the whole gain to RIGI benefits. Bank of America and Citi rate the stock a buy, with targets of US$28 and US$22, El Cronista reported.
How the Market Reacted
Central Puerto’s New York shares traded at US$13.65 when El Cronista published its analysis. They fell 7.04% on Friday 18 September, the dividend record date, amid a broad sell-off in Argentine stocks.
Pampa Energía lost 5.76% the same day and the Argentina fund ARGT fell 1.50%, Rio Times market data show. It is not clear how much of the drop reflected the payout rather than wider selling.
What It Means If You Hold Argentine Assets
Registered holders receive a one-off payout worth about 7.5% to 8% of the share price, El Cronista estimated. Foreign holders should ask their broker before 22 September whether dollar payment through the MULC is available.
The sale does not involve Central Puerto’s power plants, so it has no direct bearing on electricity supply. The RIGI approval was granted to AbraSilver’s local project company, Pacific Rim Mining Corporation Argentina, not to Central Puerto.
La Arena reported that opposition lawmakers had proposed five-year limits on share transfers in RIGI projects, which were rejected. Stake sales in other approved projects may therefore face similar political questions, but not legal limits.
What Is Not Yet Known
Central Puerto has not said who bought the shares or at what price per share. It is not known whether the new owners will play any role in building Diablillos.
Central Puerto has not disclosed how much tax, if any, it will pay on the gain. Luis Caputo has not publicly addressed the criticism in the reports reviewed by The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this sale matter?
Argentina’s largest private power producer made about six times its money on a mining stake in under three years. It is paying nearly all of it to shareholders while opposition figures question a tax-break approval.
How big is the dividend?
It totals 247.3 billion pesos (US$163.6 million), or 164 pesos (US$0.11) per share. It is payable on 25 September to holders on record on 18 September.
What is RIGI?
It is Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime, which offers a 25% income-tax rate and 30 years of stability. Diablillos was approved in May 2026 for a US$481.7 million investment.
Has anyone been found guilty of wrongdoing?
No. No court, regulator or prosecutor has found wrongdoing, and the allegations remain political claims reported by the press.
Sources: La Política Online, report on Central Puerto and the Caputo family, iProfesional, sale price, cost, dividend and Diablillos data, Infobae (EFE), Central Puerto sells its AbraSilver stake, Panabee, dividend notice details, El Cronista, dividend yield and analyst views, Newsfile, Central Puerto’s February 2025 AbraSilver release, AbraSilver, RIGI approval for Diablillos, EconoJournal, Resolution 562 and investment plan, Infobae, RIGI approval and timeline for Diablillos, Argentine government, what RIGI is, La Nación, approved RIGI projects, Panorama Minero, record 2025 mining exports, LU17, Tailhade questions the operation, La Arena, criticism of the deal, La Nación, Nicolás Caputo sells his Central Puerto stake (2022), The Rio Times, Latin American Pulse, 19 September 2026, BCRA, reference exchange rate Communication A 3500
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