Vattenfall's sale of European operations unlikely to occur until after Swedish election
Vattenfall, the Swedish energy giant, has almost concluded splitting the company into a Nordic and a European unit, according to Dagens Industri. The Swedish business daily asked the Swedish minister of financial markets, Peter Norman, whether a sale is on the cards to which he responded that a sale of such a large and important company has to occur with the political approval and help from the Swedish oppositional party Socialdemokraterna which is unlikely until after the Swedish election. Meanwhile, the paper cited Vattenfall’s Managing Director, Oystein Loseth, who confirmed that splitting the company in two parts makes it possible to admit new shareholders into the European business
The paper cited unnamed sources who pointed to a Frankfurt listing of the European unit as the most obvious possibility or even listing a smaller part of the unit to begin with. The item noted that selling the entire unit is another option but that finding a buyer could be difficult.
The paper wrote that Vattenfall’s European include the company’s German fossil operations as well as the Dutch and UK units including gas and wind assets. The item noted further that Citi and Rothschild have calculated the value of Vattenfall’s European operations and it is thought to be around EUR 15bn-EUR 17bn.
Source Dagens Industri