Enel, Europe's second largest utility in terms of installed capacity, launched the mandatory public tender offer for the entire stock of OGK-5 at 4.4275 rubles ($0.18) per share late in 2007 through Enel Investment Holding B.V. (EIH), its wholly-owned Dutch subsidiary.
"We are the first foreign operator to complete a public tender offer on a Russian company in the key energy sector, with full transparency, respect for the interests of all shareholders and compliance with market rules," Enel CEO Fulvio Conti said, adding that Russia was a strategic region for the company.
The shares tendered under the public offer amounted to 22.65% of OGK-5's share capital or 8.012 billion shares, Enel said in a statement.
"Such shares, added to the 37.15% shareholding in OGK-5 already owned by EIH ahead of the launch of the public tender offer, allow currently EIH a total ownership of 59.80% of OGK-5's share capital," Enel said.
Enel, Europe's third largest listed utility by market capitalization has become the first foreign company to acquire generating assets in Russia in the process of power sector reform.
OGK-5 includes four thermal power plants with total capacity of about 8,700 megawatts, and is one of the most valuable assets spun off from Russian electricity monopoly Unified Energy System, which previously held a 50% stake in the company.
The Russian power sector has undergone radical changes in recent years aimed at increasing the efficiency of power plants and developing the industry by attracting investment. During the restructuring process, specialized structures have been created in place of the old vertically integrated companies.
By the end of the reforms, potentially competitive parts of the industry - generation, sales and repair companies - will become mainly private and will compete with each other. However, natural monopoly functions - power transmission and dispatching - will remain state-controlled.
