Bulgaria Wraps up Disposal of Minority Stakes in CEZ Units, Pockets 58.8 Mln Euro
Bulgaria on Friday completed the disposal on the local stock exchange of its 33% stakes in CEZ Electro Bulgaria and CEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria, raising a combined 114.995 million levs ($76.3 million/58.8 million euro) in sale proceeds, the privatisation agency said.
The state-owned equity in the two companies was listed on the Sofia bourse on Monday when 75.56% of the shares of CEZ Razpredelenie and 33.94% of the shares on offer in CEZ Electro changed hands, the agency said in a statement.
On Friday, Bulgaria sold its last 16 shares in CEZ Electro for a total of 138,667 levs, bourse data showed.
CEZ Electro 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 a distribution grid. The two companies are majority-owned by Czech group CEZ.
This was the third and final set of state-owned minority stakes in local electricity distribution companies earmarked for privatisation through the Sofia bourse. Bulgaria has already sold its 33% stakes in the local units of Austrian utility EVN and of Czech energy group Energo-Pro.