By Antonio De la Jara
SANTIAGO, March 15 (Reuters) - China's Southern Power Grid received final approvals on Thursday to purchase Brookfield Infrastructure's BIP.N stake in Chile's largest electric transmission system, Transelec, the Chilean company said on Thursday.
Late last year, Canada's Brookfield agreed to sell its 27.7 percent stake in Transelec to China Southern Power for $1.3 billion, but the deal required regulatory approvals to close.
"We have obtained the applicable authorizations from the government of China. As a consequence, the transaction has been finalized," Transelec said in a letter to Chilean financial regulator SVS.
The Transelec deal represents one of the largest such transactions by a Chinese firm in Chile, part of a broader campaign by China to increase economic and political ties with Latin American nations. {nL2N1PH13J}
Transelec operates more than 6,213 miles (10,000 km) of transmission lines in Chile, covering nearly 98 percent of the country's population.