November 2 (SeeNews) - Romanian power distributor and supplier Electrica [BSE:EL] said it has concluded the purchase of minority stakes in four of its subsidiaries held by local investment fund Fondul Proprietatea [BSE:FP] for a total of 752 million lei ($188 million/ 165 million euro).
The two companies have executed the agreements related to the acquisition of Fondul Proprietatea’s holdings in four Electrica subsidiaries, the companies said in statements filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, late on Wednesday.
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On Tuesday, the two companies extended the Long Stop Date of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the purchase from the initially agreed date of October 31 to November 30.
On October 26, Electrica shareholders approved the deal.
Fondul Proprietatea holds 22% stakes in each of its four units that are subject of the deal: SDEE Distributie Muntenia Nord, SDEE Distributie Transilvania Sud, SDEE Distributie Transilvania Nord and Electrica Furnizare.
The transaction will not interfere with the fund’s right to dividend for the 2016 financial year, as the dividend distribution has already been approved at the level of each subsidiary, with a total value of 97.9 million lei.
In March last year, Electrica failed to reach an agreement with Fondul Proprietatea to buy out the stakes due to price differences.
The previous negotiations between the two companies held in 2014 also failed due to price disagreement. At the time, Fondul Proprietatea sought 175 million euro ($199 million) for its holdings.
Electrica was listed on the stock exchanges in Bucharest and London in the autumn of 2014. Currently, the Romanian state holds a stake of 48.78% through the energy ministry.
Shares of Electrica traded 0.94% higher at 12.86 lei on the BVB as at at 1105 CET on Thursday.
Blue chip Fondul Proprietatea was set up in 2005 to compensate pre-Communist property owners for their assets nationalised after 1945.
The fund's shares traded 0.24% higher at 0.8470 lei by 1214 CET on Thursday on the BVB.
(1 euro=4.5985 lei)