Gas player APA's $170m Emu Downs wind farm buy confuses analysts APA Group has confused analysts with its $170 million acquisition of the Emu Downs wind farm in Western Australia, leading them to question the shift away from lower-risk gas infrastructure. As institutions yesterday rushed APA's $300m equity raising to buy the asset and adjacent land, UBS said the market's patience would be tested by the decision to load its balance sheet with "non-core" investments. The deal would "unnerve" investors with memories of APA's 2005-08 shopping spree, Macquarie said. "This latest acquisition has us puzzled, given wind farms are a non-core asset," Credit Suisse analyst Sandra McCullagh said. Shares in Australia's largest gas infrastructure company yesterday closed down 9.6 per cent at $3.96, above the $3.85 issue price of its capital raising. APA said the wind farm purchase out of Ric Stowe's failed Griffin Group continued its strategy of using its gas infrastructure portfolio to develop related energy projects. Emu Downs, which had a 20-year contract to sell electricity to WA government-owned retailer Synergy, was an opportunity to exploit other assets in the state, the Parmela gas pipeline and Mondarra gas storage facility, it said. Citi said the deal would seal the expansion of Mondarra, which also had a WA government contract -- with Verve Energy. While backing the "opportunistic" price, analysts said they were confused as to why APA needed to own the assets, given the lack of benefit, prompting speculation of a larger plan yet to be unveiled. "We struggle to understand why APA needs to own Emu Downs in order to be the provider of gas storage and transmission services to a proposed gas-fired peaking power station," Deutsche Bank analyst John Hirjee said. Macquarie analyst Ian Myles said the move was driven by a chance to develop a 130-megawatt wind farm.