December 21 (SeeNews) - Czech energy conglomerate CEZ told SeeNews on Thursday that the company has not set a firm deadline for concluding negotiations on the sale of the company's Bulgarian assets.
"We are negotiating with one of the bidders on an exclusive basis for a limited period of time. We do not have a strict date for concluding the whole sales negotiations," CEZ press officer Alice Horakova told SeeNews in an e-mailed statement.
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According to local Capital Daily, CEZ is in exclusive talks with Bulgarian solar park operator Inercom on the sale of the assets. The bidder has to provide guarantees to CEZ that it has the necessary funds to complete the deal by the end of the week, Capital said on Thursday.
"It is now more important to reach a deal, which will be acceptable and beneficial to our shareholders," Horakova also said in the statement.
In December, CEZ told SeeNews, it hopes to come up with a decision regarding the planned sale of its assets in Bulgaria by the end of the year.
In November, the CEZ Group said it agreed to sell its Varna thermal power plant (TPP), part of its assets in Bulgaria, to local company SIGDA. The final purchase price will be determined as of closing of the transaction based on the level of working capital, CEZ said at the time.
In January, the Czech group announced it had decided to study the options related to its equity investments in Bulgaria, based on the interest of several unnamed investors.
The assets of the CEZ Group in Bulgaria comprise CEZ Distribution Bulgaria, the public supplier of electricity and a licensed trader CEZ Electro Bulgaria, licensed electricity trader CEZ Trade Bulgaria and Varna TPP. The operations of those companies are managed and coordinated by CEZ Bulgaria.