GDF Suez in the running for new purchases in Europe
Posted by admin | Under economics, economy, features, news, opinions Sunday Aug 22, 2010Acquisition appetite GDF SUEZ does not dry up. The group chaired by Gerard Mestrallet formalized fortnight ago the takeover of Britain's International Power. This nearly 20 billion euros making it the second largest electricity producer in the world.
This does not prevent targeting a wide range of assets in the energy sector. In Poland in particular, where GDF SUEZ already developing the largest biomass plant in the world with a capacity of 200 megawatts. The group intends to seize tricolor maximum opportunities in this key country in Central Europe. This Friday, however, he was left out of the race for the privatization of the producer and distributor of electricity Polish Energa, estimated 8 billion zlotys (2 billion euros).The Polish Treasury, which has sold 83% of Energa, announced he had chosen for further negotiations between the Czech and Polish groups EMP has Energeticky Prumyslovy Holding.
However, GDF Suez is in the running for the redemption of the third group of the country's electricity, Enea. Currently owned 60% by the Polish Treasury and 19% by the Swedish Vattenfall, Enea is listed at 51% for a price that could reach around 1.2 billion euros, according to Polish daily Parkiet. It provides 20% of electricity in Poland and supplies 2.3 million homes.
Faced with financial
The Polish Treasury, which had suffered an initial setback in 2009 when the only bidder, German RWE, had withdrawn its proposal, would have received this time five bids.These persons, in addition to GDF Suez, would appear EDF, Iberdrola of Spain, Italian Enel and Polish Kulczyk.
In Germany, GDF Suez is very interested in gas storage sites, sold by ExxonMobil and Shell oil companies, reported Friday a close group. The energy giant would face in the battle for assets valued at one billion euros in financial sector competitors. The infrastructure management subsidiaries of Deutsche Bank, Axa and Prudential are also candidates. Germany, third largest market in terms of GDF Suez supplies gas, is the second largest source of storage for this resource. The energy company it already has 600 million cubic meters (m3) of storage, and it would, if he can buy the two sites Uelsen Harsefeld and northwest of the country, its total capacity to about 1.5 billion m3.But France, with 10 billion cubic meters, will remain by far, its first storage area for gas.
The proposed acquisitions are still the order of the day, recalled yesterday a spokesman for GDF Suez. The merger with International Power, mainly funded by transfer of assets, slightly affects the budget of 10 billion investment that the group has set for 2010. And in the first half, investments, acquisitions and development operations or industrial maintenance, were $ 5.5 billion.
Subtracting the transfers of assets in parallel, GDF Suez had yet to end June with a bonanza of 7 billion euros to invest.
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