Romania’s Fondul Proprietatea sells stake in Transelectrica for EUR 48.5 mln

Fondul Proprietatea (BVB ticker: FP), which is the largest investment fund in Romania, sold its 13.5 percent stake in state controlled electricity transmission company Transelectrica (TEL) for EUR 48.5 million, according to an official announcement of the fund. Fondul Proprietatea put the shares for sale on Tuesday, July 8, in an accelerated bookbuild. The private placement was finalized in the first day. The sale price was RON 21.5 per share, which is 8 percent lower than the price for which Transelectrica shares were trading on Monday, before the transaction was first announced. Raiffeisen Bank and UniCredit acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the transaction. Local brokerage firm Broker Cluj was joint lead manager. This is the third large transaction carried by Fondul Proprietatea in the last nine months. The fund sold its 15 percent stake in gas transporter Transgaz (TGN), in December 2013, for EUR 68 million, and in June this year it sold a 5 percent stake in gas producer Romgaz (SNG) for EUR 147 million. Fondul Proprietatea had a net asset value (NAV) of EUR 3.47 billion, at end-May 2014, with stakes in OMV Petrom, Hidroelectrica and Romgaz accounting for more than half of that. The fund currently has a market capitalization of EUR 2.67 billion, with its shares still trading at a 30 percent discount to its NAV per share. The asset sales and the buyback program for its own shares are aimed at reducing the discount. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com