Hydro Belize Share Sale Raises Big Money, But What Comes Next?

The government’s gamble on public ownership of Hydro Belize Limited appears to have paid off, at least on paper. A preliminary report shows that Belizeans and local institutions applied for roughly four-and-a-half-million shares, even though only four million were on offer. At twenty-nine Belize dollars per share, that represents more than one hundred and thirty million dollars in demand. Nearly two thousand individual investors are seeking a piece of the newly acquired hydropower company, alongside sixty plus businesses and major institutional players, including credit unions, pension funds, and the Social Security Board. Government says it will now satisfy all applications by dipping into the shares it kept back, effectively giving up more equity than originally planned. But is the state giving away too much, too fast? According to the release, the divestment isn’t stopping here. Hydro Belize intends to issue new bonds so it can buy and cancel the government’s remaining shares, completing the shift to a fully private company by February 28^th, 2026. If all goes as scheduled, the company will end up entirely in private hands, owned by a mix of institutions and about two thousand Belizeans. Hydro Belize, formerly Fortis Belize, controls three hydroelectric plants on the Macal River, producing up to fifty-one-point-two megawatts and supplying thirty to thirty-five percent of Belize’s electricity. Simply put, this is far more than a standard corporate deal; it’s the transfer of a major piece of the national energy system.