E.ON sweetens bid for Endesa. Check it out:
(EFE News Service Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Germany's E.ON said Tuesday that it is increasing its offer for Spain's largest electric utility to 37.1 billion euros ($47.1 billion) in cash, responding to the surprise purchase of a 10 percent stake in Endesa by a third party.
Spanish construction firm Acciona SA on Monday acquired 10 percent of Endesa at a price of 32 euros ($40.55) per share, compared with the 25.41 euros ($32.19) per share offered by E.ON in February.
Acciona left the door open to buying additional shares of Endesa.
The enhanced offer from E.ON translates into 35 euros ($44.40) a share, which represents a 38 percent increase over the German company's original bid for Endesa.
"Our improved offer represents an exceptionally attractive opportunity for the shareholders of Endesa and reflects our long-term confidence in Endesa's business model and its prospects for growth," E.ON CEO Wulf Bernotat said Tuesday in a statement.
The German titan, already Europe's biggest utility, had said earlier that it was "pursuing its offer for Endesa and expects to meet all requirements to proceed shortly."
The company also stressed that completion of the deal is contingent on E.ON's acquisition of at least 50.01 percent of Endesa's shares, and on the Spanish firm's elimination of a rule restricting investors to 10 percent of voting rights, no matter how big their stake in the enterprise.
E.ON's February offer for the electric utility came after Spain's leading gas group, Gas Natural, launched a takeover bid worth $27.8 billion bid for Endesa in September 2005.
Endesa management considers the E.ON offer to be better than the one made by Gas Natural because it provides a higher price, payment in cash and would maintain the company's current structure.
If it gets done, the E.ON-Endesa deal would create the biggest electric and gas company in the world, with more than 50 million customers in over 30 countries and 107,000 employees.
Endesa was a state-owned company for decades until it was privatized in 1998.
Spain's National Energy Commission, or CNE, voted unanimously in late July to conditionally approve the bid by E.ON, but both companies - and the European Union - have expressed concern about some of those requirements.
For its part, the Spanish government has indicated uneasiness with the acquisition of the utility by a foreign company, but has not moved overtly to block the transaction.
Copyright 2006 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. Source : Financial Times Information Limited.
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