|
27 March 2008 - A report in today's Moscow Times says that Electricité de France (EDF) and a Russian firm controlled by former Unified Energy System executive Mikhail Abyzov will jointly buy power producer WGC-1 after no other bidders came forward.
The report quotes a source in the RAO UES subsidiary and says that the deal, worth up to $7 billion, is set to become the biggest sell-off in the country's electricity reforms this year. The sale is expected to go through on 17 April.
Anastasia Izotova, a spokeswoman for the Russian bidder, TransNeftServis-S, said it would "go into the auction with a partner" but declined to name the partner company. Abyzov, a former UES deputy chairman, controls TransNeftServis-S, an electricity service provider and consultant to large industrial enterprises, through his company, Rukom, which holds a blocking stake in TransNeftServis-S.
RAO UES had previously scheduled the sale for March 14, but had put it off until an unspecified date in mid-April, without giving a reason. Russian media have cited UES sources as saying that Finland's Fortum pulled out of the race for WGC-1 after it bought another power producer, TGC-10, for $3 billion.
"They had no one to bid -- and now the deal has already been made," the WGC-1 source familiar with the deal said on condition of anonymity Wednesday. "The auction will be a formality, so UES felt safe to fix a new date."
WGC-1 is one of Russia's seven wholesale generating companies and owns six power plants across northwest Russia with a total generating capacity of 9.5 GW. It is one of the last of 20 major generating firms being sold off by UES to raise investments and introduce competition to the sector. The sell-off will include the sale of the government's stake, a secondary share sale and the mandatory buyout offer to WGC-1's minority shareholders.
| 
Articles 
| View all PennWell sites | View all PennWell events
Add RSS Feed
