Wednesday, October 24, 2007

German firm E.ON to own ten percent of Endesa to reduce corporate debt

Enel/Acciona expect to win over 90 pct of Endesa

MADRID, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Enel and Acciona expect to end up with over 90 percent of Endesa when their takeover offer ends on Monday but hope to keep the Spanish utility listed and paying a dividend.

"The company will continue to be the Endesa we know in terms of the development plan and the dividend plan. If there are any synergies we can get out of it then that will be supplementary," Enel Chief Executive Fulvio Conti told reporters in Madrid.

Enel and Acciona's 42.5 billion euro ($60.5 billion) bid for Endesa was the knock-out blow in a two-year takeover saga that saw a hostile bid from Gas Natural trumped by Germany's E.ON before the Italian and Spanish firms moved in.

Enel and Acciona dealt E.ON the death blow last year when they bought huge chunks of Endesa on the open market and built up a joint stake of about 46 percent before making an offer of 40.16 euros a share for the rest.

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He also said the details of a side deal to sell a chunk of French, Spanish and Italian assets to E.ON would be negotiated from October or November and he hoped to earn "maximum market value" from the divestments.

"They will be very important for reducing Endesa's debt," Conti said.

Enel and Acciona have said Endesa's dividend flow will also be important for them to pay off the debt they have raised to finance the takeover.

Here is the full article.