Italian power group Enel said it is starting a process to divest its generation
assets in Slovakia and its distribution and sales assets in Romania as part of a
wider sale programme being implemented to strengthen the group’s financial
structure.
In Romania, the sale would involve a 64.4% stake in Enel
Distributie Muntenia SA and Enel Energie Muntenia SA, a 51% stake in Enel
Distributie Banat SA, Enel Distributie Dobrogea SA and Enel Energie SA, as well
as 100% of services company Enel Romania Srl, held by Enel through Enel
Investment Holding BV, Enel said in a statement on Thursday.
These
companies manage a power grid of about 91,000 kilometres in the regions in which
they operate, distributing about 14 terrawatt hours (TWh) of electricity a year,
with a domestic market share of 34%, and selling nearly 9.0 TWh a year to about
2.6 million customers, of which 2.4 million are residential customers, with a
domestic market share of 20%, and 0.2 million are businesses, with a domestic
market share of 38%.
In 2013, those companies had consolidated revenues
of 1.118 billion euro ($1.5 billion) and earnings before interests, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 289 million euro.
In the last
few days the Enel Group has formally notified the subsidiaries in both Slovakia
and Romania, as well as their minority shareholders of the start of the sale
process. It has appointed Citigroup and UniCredit as financial advisors for the
Romanian assets.
Enel's Board of Directors will examine and assess offers
from potential buyers in the coming months as part of the sale process for the
companies held by the Enel Group in Slovakia and Romania.
The sale of the
holdings in Slovakia and Romania are part of a broader 6.0 billion euro
programme of asset sale begun in 2013, aimed at reducing the Enel Group's
financial debt. To date, some 1.6 billion euros in sales have been completed.
The Slovakian and Romanian assets, together with other non-strategic assets,
will contribute more than the residual target of 4.4 billion euro, giving the
programme a necessary degree of flexibility.