BUCHAREST, June 23 (Reuters) – Romania’s financial regulator ASF said late on Thursday it has approved the prospectus for the share sale of up to 17.34% of state-owned hydro power producer Hidroelectrica, which will run from June 23 until July 4 on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
The initial public offering, which is likely to be one of Europe’s largest so far this year, consists of existing shares held by Fondul Proprietatea (FP.BX), a fund managed by U.S. asset manager Franklin Templeton (BEN.N).
Fondul is the sole minority shareholder in the state company, with a 20% stake it values at 2.2 billion euros.
The initial public offering will carry a price range of 94 lei ($20.77) to 112 lei ($24.74) per share, ASF said, which would give the company a valuation of 42.3 billion lei ($9.34 billion) to 50.4 billion lei ($11.13 billion).
Depending on demand, the sale could go up to the full 19.94% Fondul holds in Hidroelectrica, the company said in a statement.
“The offer price and specific number of shares will be determined following the bookbuilding process and … is expected to be announced around July 5,” the statement from Hidroelectrica said.
“Three groups of Romanian institutional investors have agreed to be the main investors within the offer and have signed an investment agreement with the company, committing to buy shares worth a total of 2.24 billion lei ($494.74 million).”
While the Romanian government is not selling any shares, the listing is part of a deal struck with the European Union to receive post-pandemic recovery funds.
Hidroelectrica is Romania’s biggest energy producer, accounting for a third of its electricity. Various state plans to list the company have been around for more than a decade.
($1 = 4.5276 lei)
Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest Editing by Matthew Lewis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.