ROMANIA: Romania could block E.On-MVM deal, says Burduja. Energy Minister wonders why Hungarians would pay ten times more than they do
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Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said that the Romanian state may not approve the transaction by which the Hungarian state-owned energy company MVM is to buy the gas and electricity supply company E.On Energie România.
“It will be analyzed what the MVM company is doing, where the financing comes from, where they will buy the energy and gas that they will sell to Romanians. There have been transactions that have not been approved and it is certainly a scenario now. We will defend our national interest and that does not mean that we are not open to collaboration, but the national security of the country will always come first,” Burduja said in a press conference.
“The Romanian state has a Foreign Direct Investment Examination Commission. This commission will certainly look at everything that MVM does. The transaction is not concluded until the Romanian state gives its consent,” Burduja added.
The minister explained that there were Romanian companies that wanted to buy E.On’s supply company in Romania, without giving names – we know that final offers were also submitted by Romgaz and Petrom, but that based on their evaluation, they made offers that could not come close to what the Hungarian company offered, because they had no reason to.
“There were Romanian companies that entered the data room, submitted offers, but could not come close to the offer. With corporate governance you cannot pay 2-3 times or 10 times for something if it does not do it. If it does not make that money. it is difficult to justify such a transaction”, explained Burduja.
The value of the transaction between E.On and MVM for the supply company E.On Energie România and for the services company E.On Asist was not published, but, according to sources close to the business, it would amount to 205 million euros.
We remind you that E.ON Group and MVM Group have reached an agreement regarding the sale of E.ON’s retail and customer solutions business in Romania. According to the agreement, MVM Group will acquire E.ON’s 68% stake in E.ON Energie România, as well as its 98% stake in E.ON Asist Complet, according to a press release issued on Monday evening.
The completion of the transaction is subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the competent authorities, the release says.
E.On Energie România has a portfolio of approximately 3.4 million gas and electricity customers.
