Public Power Corp (PPC), the largest electricity company in Greece, signed an exclusivity agreement with the Italian company Enel for a possible acquisition of its assets in Romania. The final decision will follow a financial audit.

Negotiations between the two companies will continue until the end of January 2023. Once the audit is completed, Public Power Corp's board of directors will make a decision regarding the submission of a binding offer to Enel.

Greece's electricity company has looked into making acquisitions in Romania and Bulgaria as part of its overseas expansion efforts.

Last month, Italian energy group Enel announced that it aims to sell its Romanian assets and exit the country in order to focus on Italy and Spain. Enel will also exit from Peru and Argentina as part of its 2023-2025 strategy. The company will also shift its operations to large cities in Brazil.

“We decided to leave Romania because we have reached a point in which future growth is difficult to obtain. We’ve saturated the space for investments in networks and we are in a position in the customer and production segment that no longer offers many possibilities for growth,” said Enel CEO Francesco Starace, cited by ProTV.

“The reason we are leaving is not that we don't like the legal and regulatory framework in Romania, which is no better or worse than many others. All European governments have taken action in the context of high gas prices across Europe. I don't think that Romania did better or worse than others. We have to deal with this situation as best we can,” he added.

Enel serves about 3 million consumers in Romania through its supply and distribution network, making it one of the largest private energy operators nationally. The company is also active in the US, Italy, Spain, Chile, and Columbia. Back in October, Profit.ro said that PPC was gearing up to buy 70% of Enel Romania. A few days later, however, the company denied the information.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Moruzx | Dreamstime.com)