Adds Excelerate CEO interview, statement content throughout, shares in paragraph 2, analyst in paragraph 11

By David French and Vallari Srivastava

March 27 (Reuters) - Liquefied natural gas infrastructure provider Excelerate Energy EE.N has agreed to buy the Jamaica business of rival New Fortress Energy NFE.O for $1.06 billion in cash, according to statements from the companies on Thursday.

Shares of New Fortress fell 5.7% to $10.44 in early trading, and Excelerate was down 0.7%, amid general stock-market falls following President Donald Trump's latest tariff gambit.

The deal, confirming an earlier Reuters story, is expected to close in the second quarter. It will boost Excelerate's existing global footprint, with its LNG infrastructure currently deployed in several countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, Finland and Pakistan.

"We have been husbanding our dry powder for just an opportunity like this," Excelerate Chief Executive Steven Kobos said in an interview.

"It's a fantastic platform. We're getting the benefit of years of capital that has been deployed, so we're stepping into first-mover advantage."

Last year, New Fortress began exploring options that included bringing in strategic partners or selling assets, after it was forced to defer shareholder dividend payments while it held talks with bondholders to address near-term debt maturities.

The Excelerate deal "is a meaningful step as we continue to streamline our operations," said New Fortress CEO Wes Edens in a statement. The company plans to use the sale proceeds to reduce its debt pile, which stood at $8.4 billion at the end of 2024.

The assets being sold include the Montego Bay onshore terminal, the Old Harbour floating terminal, and the Clarendon combined heat and power plant. New Fortress said previously the plant supplies 65% of Jamaica's electricity.

Excelerate said it expects the acquisition to immediately add to its earnings per share, with assets that complement its "existing operational expertise and long-term LNG supply agreements."

The assets also held further opportunities for Excelerate, including in LNG bunkering and the possibility of expanding the Clarendon power plant. Jamaica's location, to the south of the U.S. Gulf coast where a major boom in LNG export facilities is underway, was also attractive, it added.

"Strategically, we think the assets are a nice fit for Excelerate with some growth potential beyond the existing business," said Capital One Securities in a note. For New Fortress, the deal was positive from a deleveraging perspective, even if losing the Jamaica asset was not ideal.

Both the companies provide floating LNG import terminals that allow countries to import natural gas without having to build large-scale facilities, which can cost tens of billions of dollars and take years to construct.

(Reporting by David French in New York and Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Kirsten Donovan)

((Srivastava.Vallari@thomsonreuters.com;))