Power utility PPC is up against strong competition from three major funds handling capital worth hundreds of billions of euros for the acquisition of Enel Romania, a subsidiary of the major Italian energy group Enel, sources have informed.
Enel Romania has been placed for sale as its parent company wants to reduce its net debt figure.
PPC has been scouring neighboring markets for almost a year now, looking for opportunities to expand beyond Greece and establish a geostrategic position in the region.
The southeast European energy market is attracting major international investment interest as Balkan countries have plenty of potential for RES growth and also promise to serve as a new energy corridor in Europe.
Canadian fund Brookfield, handling over 750 billion euros in capital and globally present with investments in renewables, infrastructure, real estate and social security funds, is believed to be one of the funds PPC is up against for Enel Romania.
The UK’s Amber Infrastructure, handling over 10 billion euros in capital, primarily in infrastructure, has been named as another potential buyer of Enel Romania.
Enel’s debt figure surged to 70 billion euros in September following energy crisis measures taken by the Italian government, an extraordinary tax, and increased natural gas orders for coverage of customer needs.
Enel aims to cut its debt by roughly 21 billion euros through the sale of assets in countries such as Romania, Argentina and Peru.