Bulgaria Raises 42.2 Mln Euro from Sale of Stakes in CEZ Units on First Day of Offer
Bulgaria raised some 82.5 million levs ($56.2 million/42.2 million euro) from the sale of the bulk of the 33% stakes in CEZ Electro Bulgaria and CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria it offered investors on the local stock exchange on Monday, the bourse said.
A total of 48,074 CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria shares, equivalent to 75.56% of the state-owned stake, and 560 CEZ Electro Bulgaria shares, or 33.94% of the shares on offer, were sold at a price of 1,605.85 levs and 9,485.37 levs apiece, respectively, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange said in a statement.
As many as 31 investment firms bought shares of the two companies in a total of 499 deals.
The offer will be open for a month.
"We are convinced that the high investor interest in the state stake in CEZ will have a long-term positive effect on the stock exchange," the bourse's CEO Vasil Golemanski was quoted as saying in the statement.
A total of 63,624 shares of CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria and 1,650 shares of CEZ Electro Bulgaria were offered to investors.
The bottom price was set at 1,415 levs per CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria share and at 8,660 levs per CEZ Electro Bulgaria share.
The two companies are majority-owned by CEZ. CEZ Electro Bulgaria supplies electricity to over 1.9 million customers in the Sofia region and parts of western and northern Bulgaria. CEZ Razpredelenie, which operates in the same region, is licensed for the transmission and distribution of electricity and the operation of the distribution grid.
Bulgaria has already sold its 33% stakes in the local units of Austrian utility EVN and Czech energy group Energo-Pro.