November 1 (SeeNews) - Romanian power distributor and supplier Electrica [BSE:EL] and investment fund Fondul Proprietatea [BSE:FP] said they agreed to extend the deadline for the buyout of the fund’s holdings in Electrica subsidiaries by a month.
The two companies have extended the Long Stop Date of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in July for the buyout from the initially agreed October 31 to November 30, the companies said in statements filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, late on Tuesday.
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On October 26, Electrica shareholders approved the buyout.
In July, the two companies signed a MoU regarding the transaction worth 752 million lei ($188 million/ 165 million euro).
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 dividends for the 2016 financial year, as it 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 Bucharest and London stock exchanges in the autumn of 2014. Currently, Romanian state holds a stake of 48.78% through the energy ministry.
Its shares were traded 0.15% lower to 12.9 lei on Wednesday on the BVB at 0903 CET.
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 were trading 0.36% higher at 0.8480 lei by 0936 CET on Wednesday on the BVB.
(1 euro=4.5985 lei)