PODGORICA (Montenegro), March 23 (SeeNews) – Montenegrin state-owned power utility EPCG [MNG:EPCG] plans to launch a buyout bid for the entire capital of blue-chip coal miner Rudnik Uglja [MNG:RUPV], the president of the utility, Djoko Krivokapic has said.
The buyout bid will be proposed at EPCG's upcoming shareholders' meeting on March 28, Krivokapic said, as quoted in a statement by the Montenegrin government on Thursday.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
"EPCG will become the future majority owner of Rudnik Uglja, which will continue to be successful, and both companies will contribute to the energy system of Montenegro," Krivokapic said in the statement.
The Montenegrin government holds a 31% stake in the capital of Rudnik Uglja, while Italian utility A2A controls a 39.5% shareholding interest. The remainder is owned by private investors.
A2A also controls a 41.7% stake in EPCG but in July it submitted an official application with the Montenegrin government for the sale of its shares. The government will pay a total of 250 million euro ($308.6 million) for the shares held by A2A in seven annual instalments so as not to burden the state budget, the government said back then.
Rudnik Uglja's shares traded 0.66% higher at 5.9101 euro at 0931 CET on Friday on the Montenegro Stock Exchange. The capital of Rudnik Uglja is composed of a total of 5,064,443 shares.
($=0.8100 euro)