Italian group Enel to sell its EUR 1.12 bln electricity distribution business in Romania

Italian group Enel plans to sell its electricity all its distribution assets in Romania, the group’s board of directors decided on Thursday, July 10. This decision is part of the sale program aimed at strengthening the group’s financial structure. “The sale would involve the 64.4 percent stake in Enel Distributie Muntenia SA and Enel Energie Muntenia SA, the 51 percent stake in Enel Distributie Banat SA, Enel Distributie Dobrogea SA and Enel Energie SA, as well as the 100 percent interest in the services company Enel Romania Srl (held by Enel through Enel Investment Holding BV),” the group announced. These companies manage a power grid of about 91,000 kilometers in the regions where they operate, distributing about 14 TWh of electricity a year (with a domestic market share of 34 percent) and selling nearly 9 TWh a year to about 2.6 million customers, of which 2.4 million are residential customers (with a domestic market share of 20 percent) and 0.2 million are businesses (with a domestic market share of 38 percent). In 2013, those companies had consolidated revenues of EUR 1.12 billion and operational profit (EBITDA) of EUR 289 million. Citigroup and UniCredit will provide financial assistance for the sale of Enel’s Romanian assets. Enel will also sell its power generating assets in Slovakia. The Italian group holds a 66 percent stake in Slovenské Elektrárne, which is that country’s leading power generator, with a market share of close to 80 percent. The company owns power stations with a total installed capacity of 5,700 MW, with a balanced generation mix comprising nuclear, hydroelectric and conventional thermal facilities. In 2013 it posted revenues for EUR 2.89 billion and EBITDA of EUR 708 million. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com