The planned initial public offering of Romanian state-owned hydropower producer Hidroelectrica on the Bucharest Stock Exchange is seen happening in May or June, board member Karoly Borbely said on Thursday, flagging a later than expected period.
The IPO consists of shares belonging to investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, run by investment manager Franklin Templeton, the sole minority shareholder in Hidroelectrica. In November, the fund said the listing was expected in April-May.
“The first window is early May, the second somewhere in mid-June,” Borbely told an energy seminar organised by financial daily Ziarul Financiar.
“We have just finalised early look meetings with investors, the consultants are now working on the draft of the prospectus, which will be filed at the financial regulator in the second half of April.”
Fondul had gained government approval to float a 15%-20% stake in the company in a deal initially estimated at 2.5 billion euros (USD 2.65 billion).
It had advocated a dual listing in Bucharest and London to boost the company’s valuation, but its shareholders rejected that plan. Fondul has said that listing the company only in Bucharest could mean downsizing the stake.
Fondul was set up as a fund to compensate Romanians for assets seized under communism and holds minority stakes in a string of state firms, including 20% of Hidroelectrica. The IPO will involve the sale of Fondul shares in Hidroelectrica, not government shares. However, listing the company by mid-2023 is part of requirements the government agreed with the European Commission in exchange for post-pandemic recovery funds.
Hidroelectrica is Romania’s biggest power producer, accounting for a third of its electricity. Borbely said the company planned to add an additional 300 MW to its capacity through new investment in the short term.
Various state plans to list Hidroelectrica have been around for roughly 15 years.
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