Spanish Finance Minister Pedro Solbes and Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian have asked the main shareholders of Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and Gas Natural SDG SA (GAS.MC) to put together a plan to merge, reports Cinco Dias in its Thursday Internet edition, citing people familiar with the talks.
Iberdrola's main shareholders are Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA (ACS.MC) and Basque savings bank Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, each with a 7.7% stake, while Gas Natural's main holders are Repsol YPF SA (REP) and savings bank La Caixa, with a combined 64% stake.
The idea would be to have stable Spanish shareholding structure, with BBK, La Caixa and Repsol holding a combined stake of 30%-35% in the merged company, while Spanish utility Union Fenosa SA (UNF.MC), which is controlled by ACS, would get from the new company assets worth between EUR6 billion and EUR7 billion, according to Cinco Dias.