May 21 (SeeNews) - Romanian state-owned power company Hidroelectrica said that it has selected STJ Advisors Group Limited as its equity advisor in a planned initial public offering (IPO) of shares.
While the estimated price in the tender was 1.752 million euro, STJ offered a much lower one, of 950,000 euro ($1.04 million), Hidroelectrica said in a press release on Wednesday.
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Three law firms submitted their offers in the tender - STJ Advisors Group, Lazard Freres, and Deloitte Consultanta.
Hidroelectrica launched the tender for IPO advisory services for a second time at the beginning of March, after dismissing all bids placed in a previous tender launched in January. Hidroelectrica gave no reasons for rejecting the offers at the time. The three companies were the sole candidates in the first procurement procedure.
"Regarding the choice of the right moment for Hidroelectrica's IPO, it will be established later, so that the listing will bring maximum benefits to the company's shareholders," Hidroelectrica president Bogdan Badea said.
STJ is an independent global equity capital markets advisory firm providing strategic, structuring and process management advise for IPO candidates and financial sponsors, restructuring existing debt issues or raising new funds, according to its website.
Earlier this month, Hidroelectrica said that it has selected Dentons Europe SPARL as its legal advisor for the planned IPO.
In February, local media reported that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is interested in acquiring a 5% stake in Hidroelectrica.
The energy company exited insolvency In April 2017, which paved the way for its listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange expected to be the biggest in Romania’s history. The initial public offering of a 10% or 15% stake in Hidroelectrica is expected to raise up to 1 billion euro, the court-appointed administrator of the company said at the time.
Hidroelectrica is 80.06% owned by the Romanian state, while investment fund Fondul Proprietatea owns 19.94%. The company has in its portfolio 209 hydro power plants with a total installed capacity of 6,482 MW.
Recently, the company published an ambitious 26.04 billion lei (5.8 billion/$5.3 billion euro) investment programme until 2037 featuring plans for new power generation facilities using wind, solar and biomass energy sources, as well as for the upgrade or completion of existing production facilities. The company will ask shareholders to approve the investment plan on June 15. Out of the total sum which is to be invested, 10.8 billion lei are expected to come from the IPO.
($=0.9138 euro)
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