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    Portugal's EDP Details Asset Changes

Summary

Portugal’s largest electricity utility, EDP, has announced that its core Chinese shareholder has increased its stake in the company and completed a divestment.

by: Mark Smedley

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Natural Gas & LNG News, Asia/Oceania, Europe, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions, Political, TSO, Infrastructure, , News By Country, China, Portugal

Portugal's EDP Details Asset Changes

Portugal’s largest electricity utility, EDP, has announced that its core Chinese shareholder has increased its stake in the company and completed a divestment.

Chinese state-owned grid operator, China Three Gorges (CTG), bought an extra 1.9183% stake in EDP on October 2. The latter said on October 3 that CTG’s stake has therefore increased from 21.35% to 23.2683%. CTG owns the world's largest hydro-electric plant, which has a generation capacity of 22.5 GW.

CGT is not the only Chinese state company with a strategic holding in a key Portuguese company. The State Grid of China owns a 25% stake in Portugal's main national power and gas grid operator REN and is its largest shareholder.

Separately, EDP announced on October 4 that it had now completed the sale – announced six months ago – to REN, of its EDP Gas distribution business, a 4,460-km gas distribution network in northern Portugal; the €532.4mn ($625.8mn) sale secured all regulatory approvals for the deal last month

EDP said this sale will result in a €536mn reduction in its net debt this year. The deal is one of a handful Iberian gas infrastructure divestments announced in the past year.

 

Mark Smedley