Romanian fund Fondul Proprietatea "will list at least 15% of state-owned hydropower company Hidroelectrica" in Bucharest as soon as possible, without waiting for the Government to join in, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu told Reuters.

At the current valuation of RON 43 bln (EUR 8.6 bln), the IPO would bring EUR 1.3 bln to Fondul Proprietatea.

Minister Popescu thus confirmed that the Government, as the majority shareholder at Hidroelectrica, will support the listing of the company's shares - as required by FP.

The Executive was planning a 10% IPO at Hidroelectrica itself (by the issue of new shares) before the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also pledged to list the company's shares by the end of Q3 this year, under the National Resilience Plan PNRR.

"The Parliament's ban does not allow us to launch an IPO, but we support listing the entire stake of Fondul Proprietatea or part of it, at least 15%, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. We will vote for it," Virgil Popescu said in the interview.

Under Law 736/2020 issued in August as a precautionary measure during the economic crisis prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Romanian state is banned from selling shares in companies for a period of two years.

Johan Meyer, portfolio manager at Fondul Proprietatea, said last week that the fund's priority is to list Hidroelectrica. "Our main goal is an IPO for Hidroelectrica and to do so as soon as possible because the company is in a great position to benefit from a listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange," Meyer said.

According to him, the package of shares and the timing of the offer would be influenced by market interest and conditions.

Meyer said the state has allowed minority shareholders to move forward with the listing because the Government has failed to change the law in parliament that prohibits it from alienating state shares.

He said the fund had already obtained approval in principle to list its stake in the state-controlled salt producer Salrom. Fondul Proprietatea owns 49% of the salt producer. "We can use a similar approach to other companies in our portfolio," he told Reuters.

(Photo: Hidroelectrica Facebook Page)

iulian@romania-insider.com