Minister: EBRD wants 5-10% in Romania’s Hidroelectrica before planned IPO

Romania’s Government has received a letter of intent from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which reportedly wants “to be part of the listing” of state-owned hydropower producer Hidroelectrica.

The EBRD would actually be interested in taking over a 5-10% stake in the company as part of the pre-listing process, economy and energy minister Virgil Popescu disclosed at an energy conference, Wall-street.ro reported.

He did not detail on whether the “pre-listing” would be a competitive process to which more investors would be invited. However, this pre-listing “would raise the value of the company,” minister Popescu reasoned.

Hidroelectrica is “a jewel”, because it produces green energy [actually big hydro is not included in the RES-E national targets set under the European Union’s decarbonisation plans] and bringing it together with EBRD “would be a win,” minister Popescu stated.

Asked what Hidroelectrica will do with the money raised by selling a 20% stake in the planned IPO - some RON 1 bln (EUR 205 mln), minister Popescu said that “the company can have a very ambitious investment plan” mentioning the green technologies, wind and solar power.

Commenting on the IPO proceedings, Hidroelectrica CEO Bogdan Badea said the company intends to use money “for the development and consolidation of the company.”

Hidroelectrica launched last Wednesday the procedure for selecting a legal consultant to advise it on the listing process, the estimated value of the contract being EUR 700,000, excluding VAT, according to a statement from the company.

The company is also in the process of selecting an equity adviser (financial consultant) for the same process.

(Photo: Virgil Popescu Facebook Page)