London (Platts)--1Mar2011/725 am EST/1225 GMT
Electricite de France and A2A of Italy are evaluating possible agreements ahead of the expiry of their joint control of Italian energy company Edison, EDF said in a statement to the Euronext stock exchange Tuesday. Some 9.3% of Edison is free float. EDF owns 69.4% of the company. A2A is a majority shareholder in Delmi Spa, which owns around 30% of Edison. EDF and A2A must decide by March 15 if they want to call off their shareholders' agreement in the joint running of Edison or renew the deal for another three years. "No agreement has been reached and no assurance can be given as to whether an accord will be forthcoming," EDF said. The statement was made in response to recent press articles, EDF said. According to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, EDF is discussing with Italian securities regulator Consob how it might avoid making a full public offer for Edison if it seeks to increase its stake in Edison to 100%. Another potential outcome is that EDF and A2A remain shareholders in Edison, but EDF increases its majority. Media speculation is that EDF will give up some of Edison's power assets to A2A plus a potential cash payment to increase its stake. Edison is Italy's second largest electric utility, with 41.6 TWh produced in 2009, equal to 15% of national production. In its hydrocarbons business, the company has 56.1 billion cubic meters of reserves, 80 gas and oil leases, three gas storage centers, an LNG terminal (Adriatic LNG) and two new gas pipelines under development (Galsi, ITGI). In 2009, Edison had sales of Eur8.867 billion ($12.257 billion), EBITDA of Eur1.471 billion and net profit of Eur240 million.--Henry Edwardes-Evans, henry_edwardes-evans@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Power in Europe. See more information at http://bit.ly/PowerinEurope