Hidroelectrica, the “pearl” of Romanian energy, is to be listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) in July, a move that the domestic capital market has been waiting for for many years.
Hire HidroelectricaPhoto: Agepres
In order to better understand the importance of this moment and why we should be interested, even if we are not investors on the Stock Exchange, Panorama spoke with Bogdan Mugescu, founder of Atheneum Advisors, a Romanian consulting company, which has the status of authorized consultant for SMT AeRO, BSE’s alternative trading system for stocks and bonds.
The IPO of the largest energy company could, in fact, be the largest listing in Europe in 2023, in the context in which the Turks of soda ash producer WE Soda, a company that was waiting to be valued at 7, 5 billion dollars and to raise 800 million dollars from the stock market, canceled the initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange, just two weeks after the announcement.
Instead, Hidroelectrica, which operates over 180 power plants and is 80% owned by the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, and 20% by Fondul Proprietatea hopes, according to Reuters, to attract a billion euros through an IPO.
The Romanian state retains its participation, will not sell shares in the offer and will not be allowed to sell shares, after its conclusion, for 12 months.
Instead, Fondul Proprietatea, managed by the American asset manager Franklin Templeton, is the minority shareholder that will list its holding, estimated at 2.2 billion euros, which means a valuation of Hidroelectrica at 10 billion euros.
Basically, we are talking about a listing that would raise between one billion and 2.2 billion euros. It is a breath of fresh air for BVB and could propel the Romanian capital market among the developed markets.
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