Romanian Fondul Proprietatea wants to sell stakes in Electrica subsidiaries

Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea plans to sell its shares in three local electricity distribution companies controlled by state holding Electrica, namely Electrrica Distributie Muntenia Nord, Electrica Distributie Transilvania Sud, and Electrica Distributie Transilvania Nord), as well as the stake in electricity supplier Electrica Furnizare, which is part of the same group. Their value is estimated at about RON 887 million (EUR 195 million), according to the fund’s quarterly report. Fondul Proprietatea has failed to reach an agreement with Electrica on these stakes. Last year, the fund was asking EUR 172 million for the stakes while Electrica was only willing to pay EUR 153 million. The fund’s manager, Franklin Templeton, said at that time that the fund was willing to reopen negotiations at a future point. Fondul Proprietatea has been selling stakes from its portfolio in recent years to distribute the cash to shareholders via buyback programs and capital return rounds. In the first quarter of this year, Fondul Proprietatea sold its stake in Oil Terminal and a part of its shares in the local lender Banca Transilvania. However, the biggest chunk of its EUR 2.39 billion portfolio consists of stakes in unlisted companies, which are more difficult to sell. Last year, however, the fund managed to sell its stakes in the local subsidiaries of the German utilities group E.ON. The total value of the unlisted companies in which Fondul Proprietatea is a shareholder is about RON 7.6 billion (EUR 1.6 bln), of which the power producer Hidroelectrica has a value of RON 3.4 billion (EUR 746 million). The fund is also considering the sale of its Hidroelectrica stake as the company’s listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange has been delayed. editor@romania-insider.com