EDF purchases EnBW stakes in Poland

French utility EDF has entered into an agreement with German utility EnBW to repurchase stakes in EnBW's two subsidiaries, ERSA and KOGENERACJA in Poland.

32.45% and 15.59%, respectively, of the polish companies have been purchased by EDF.

This transaction had already been planned for in the contract of 6 December 2010 regarding the sale of EDF's stake in EnBW to the Land of Baden-Württemberg.

Following this transaction, EDF Group will now hold 97.34% of ERSA (the 2.66% remaining stake being owned by the company's employees) and 50% plus one share in KOGENERACJA.

Furthermore, the indirect acquisition of KOGENERACJA's shares will not result in a public tender offer for the company.

The transaction with a total amount of €301m and an implied multiple of around five times is in line with the financial guidance announced by the group at the end of July 2011.

ERSA owns the Rybnik power plant, which includes eight coal-fired units producing 220MW of electricity expected to be in service in 2018.

This power plant will be in line to the future 900MW high-yield super critical coal-fired power station announced by the EDF Group on 5 December 2011.

KOGENERACJA owns the electricity and heat production power stations at Wroclaw and Siechnice with 363MW electricity and 1,060MW of thermal production.

It also includes the Zielona Gora combined gas cycle with its 190MW of electricity and 95MW of thermal production.

This acquisition will allow EDF to pursue its strategy of development and integration in Poland, generating turnover in excess of €1bn and with an installed electricity capacity of more than 3GW.

In addition, it will also allow the EDF Group to exploit new operational synergies estimated at between €3m and €5m every year.

Completion of this transaction is conditional on approval by the relevant competition authorities.