Greek PPC’s strategic move through acquisition of Enel’s companies in Romania

The PPC will be taking up a strategic position in the Balkans once the deal with the Italian Enel for the acquisition of all its assets in Romania is completed.

The public Greek company is very close to achieving its first exit beyond the Greek border through an acquisition of the Italian energy giant’s majority holdings in power supply companies and distribution networks as well as the total RES portfolio. The search for opportunities in the Southeast European market was announced by the president and managing director Giorgos Stassis last year, when PPC was proceeding to increase its share capital by raising 1.35 billion. euro.

Thus, PPC announced yesterday that it signed an Exclusivity Agreement with Enel S.p.A. (“Enel”) for the possible acquisition of all Enel Group holdings in Romania. This means that the Greek company managed to exclude two large funds, as OT had written on November 23, Canadian fund Brookfield and British fund Amber Infrastructure from the competition and enter the final phase of the acquisition. By the end of January 2023, PPC will have completed the negotiations after first proceeding with the due diligence of the companies it aims to acquire.

The portfolio

The Italian group Enel had entered the Romanian market in 2005.

It gradually acquired the majority package of public shares in three of the total eight distribution companies.

These are:

1. E-Distribute Muntenia Sud, which electrifies the Muntenia region including Bucharest,

2. E- Distribute Banat with distribution networks in the area of the same name where the country’s industrial zone is located

3. E-Distribute Dobrogea, distributes electricity in the homonymous tourist area

If PPC acquires these three distribution companies then it will control a network of 130,000 km that provides electricity to approximately 3 million residents.

The acquisition of the two leading electricity and natural gas providers, Enel Energie and Enel Muntenia, is also under negotiation. As well as Enel X which provides electrification, smart meters and energy efficiency services.

The acquisition of the 13 operating RES projects with a total capacity of 534 MW, belonging to Enel Green Power, is also under negotiation.

A Balkan PPC

PPC’s move to claim the assets of the international energy giant Enel comes at a time when the energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine is essentially rewriting the energy map of Europe.

The Greek company is positioned, as its sources report to OT, strategically in an area located on the so-called Southern Corridor for the transfer of energy resources to the Balkans. The possible acquisition of the power distribution network makes the Greek PPC a strong player in the region that will control the transfer of electricity to and from the Balkans.