Fenosa sells indirect stake in Philippine electricity company

24 January 2008

MADRID – Unión Fenosa, Spain’s third-largest electricity supplier, said Wednesday it had completed the sale of its 40-percent stake to its partner in a Philippine joint venture company for USD 250 million (EUR 170 million).

The First Philippine Union Fenosa joint venture company holds a 22.9-percent stake in leading Philippine electricity supplier Manila Electricity Company (Mercalo).

Unión Fenosa’ stake was acquired by its partner First Philippine Holdings Corp.

Meralco is listed on the Manila Stock Exchange. It has a market value of USD 2.730 billion (EUR 1.850 billion).

Unión Fenosa said it acquired its indirect holding in Meralco for USD 196 million. The holding was accounted for as a financial asset for sale on Unión Fenosa’s balance sheet.

Unión Fenosa had already announced it planned to sell the stake as part of its business plan for the period 2007-2011. It said the proceeds from the sale would be used to strengthen the company’s financial position.

Unión Fenosa’s share price closed down 6.70 percent at EUR 40.41 yesterday as the turmoil in global stock markets continued. Fenosa’s main shareholder, leading Spanish builder ACS bought a further 4.83 percent of the electricity firm to increase its stake to 45.3 percent.

Subject: Spanish news