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12 January 2007 - The bitter battle for control of Spanish utility Endesa moved another step closer to the end when Acciona, the Spanish construction and energy group, said it had lifted its stake in Endesa to 21 per cent, inching closer to its goal of 24.9 per cent.
Acciona is trying to block a €37bn ($48bn) bid for Endesa by Eon of Germany, which trumped an earlier bid by Gas Natural, a Spanish gas supplier. Madrid has angered Brussels by imposing harsh conditions on Eon's bid - in a move that the EU considers illegal.
Eon has filed several legal complaints against Acciona, adding to the legal quagmire that has bogged down the takeover process.
Acciona bought the new shares ahead of a Spanish supreme court decision to lift an injunction that had frozen the bids by Gas Natural and Eon. The company paid more than €35 per share for the stock - above the price offered to Endesa shareholders by eitherbidder.
The Eon and Gas Natural bids remain frozen by a separate injunction by a lower, commercial court in Madrid. That court suspended Gas Natural's offer in March pending a decision as to whether an agreement between the gas supplier and Iberdrola, Spain's second-largest electricity generator, contravened EU law.
Gas Natural agreed to sell to Iberdrola assets it would be forced to divest if its bid for Endesa were successful. A decision on that injunction is expected in the next few weeks, potentially unlocking the takeoverprocess.
Meanwhile, Eon has filed a complaint against Acciona with the Spanish stock market regulator, accusing Acciona of colluding with other investors to try to block the German company's bid. Eon filed a similar suit against Acciona in New York in October.
Acciona yesterday denied either complaint had any substance.
Javier de Mendizabal, head of institutional relations for Acciona, said: "We're totally relaxed about this . . . because the complaints are completely false.
"We are acting on our own," he added. "They can take us to court in New York, in Kathmandu, in Senegal and it won't make any difference."
If the commercial court decides to lift the injunction on the Gas Natural bid, the process of tendering shares to the two rival bidders can begin.
Before that, Endesa shareholders will meet to decide whether to comply with one of Eon's takeover conditions: to remove a limit that prevents any shareholder from having more than 10 per cent of voting rights, even if their stake is higher.
Acciona is understood to want to build its stake to 24.9 per cent before the vote, since the more shares it holds, the better its chances of scuppering Eon's plans.
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