Two German firms drop out of race for Bucharest

The German energy producer E.ON, one of the largest groups in the world in the utility sector, has left the race to acquire the capital”s electricity distributor, the most valuable company on this market. Market sources say the company could be put at an average 250 – 300 million euros. On the list of bidders for the 67% stake in Electrica Muntenia Sud are AES Corporation (SUA), CEZ (the Czech Republic), Enel SpA (Italy), EVG AG (Austria), Gaz de France (France), Iberdrola SA and Union Fenosa International (Spain), and RWE Energy AG (Germany), according to the announcement of the officials from the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the sole shareholder in Electrica. The top five bidders will be short-listed, but if several investors are given the same rating as the fifth investor, they too will continue in the race. RWE thus remains the only German candidate for privatisation out of the three who had originally submitted letters of interest The other German group to withdraw from the race was EnBW, in which the France-based EdF owns 45%, as it had not submitted a bid by the deadline that expired on Tuesday at 16.00. ZF