In the fall of 1993, Leucaida, the owner of Bolivian Power Co. was planning a secondary offering of shares in the U.S. market.33 Bolivian Power was in the business of generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Bolivia. The company had operated since 1925, and its shares were listed on NASDAQ until 1993 when it moved to the NYSE. The company’s first parent was Canadian International Power, which was acquired by the conglomerate Baldwin-United Corp. In 1983, Baldwin-United declared bankruptcy, and Bolivian Power switched owners again when it was taken over by the U.S. insurance company, Leucadia National, as part of the deal in which Baldwin-United was bought by Leucadia. Until 1993, the insurance company owned 49.8% of Bolivian Power’s stock.

Two companies dominated Bolivia’s electric power industry: Bolivian Power and ENDE (Empresa Nacional de Electricidad). ENDE was the state-owned power entity that operated mainly thermal power stations and two hydroelectric power stations. Together, these two companies owned and operated 96% of the generating capacity in the country. In terms of distribution, Bolivian Power was the largest distributor of electricity in the country with a 42% market share.