The Proprietatea Fund pressing for the listing of "Nuclearelectrica" and "Hidroelectrica"

The Proprietatea Fund (FP) has requested the summoning of General Extraordinary Shareholder Meetings at "Hidroelectrica" and "Nuclearelectrica", for the approval of the listing of the two companies on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), the representatives of the Proprietatea Fund have announced yesterday.

"We strongly believe that Hidroelectrica and Nuclearelectrica are ready to come out on the market and that this process needs to start as soon as possible. The companies need financing, increased transparency and openness, improved corporate governance and increased efficiency. We are confident that the Initial Public Offerings of Hidroelectrica and Nuclearelectrica will be successful, which will attract more investors to the market and will increase the value of the portfolio of the Proprietatea Fund", said Greg Konieczny, fund manager at the Proprietatea Fund.

The Extraordinary General Shareholder Meetings of the Shareholders of "Hidroelectrica", and "Nuclearelectrica", would have to be held within at most 60 days after the request submitted by the Proprietatea Fund, the officials of the Fund say.

The Proprietatea Fund is a minority shareholder of the two companies, as it owns 10% of "Nuclearelectrica" and 20% of "Hidroelectrica", according to information from its website. The Proprietatea Fund was one of the most active opponents of the inclusion of the two aforementioned companies into the energy colossi "Electra" and "Hidroenergetica", arguing for their listing on the stock market instead.

According to the management of the Proprietatea Fund, taking the two companies public would bring benefits to the government, to the Fund itself and to the companies themselves, such as increased transparency, making the management more responsible for its decisions before its shareholders, access to funding, etc.

At the end of July, the Ministry of the Economy has announced that it would increase the share capital of "Hidroelectrica" and "Nuclearelectrica" by 10%, through a primary public offering, without announcing a date, however. The officials of the Proprietatea Fund have said at the time that they support the idea of the 10% share capital increase, but that it would be recommended for the state to sell part of its holdings, to make the offering more attractive for potential investors.

The previous suggestion of the Proprietatea Fund was for the state to reduce its stake in "Hidroelectrica" from 80% to 51%, whereas the Proprietatea Fund would reduce its stake to 13%, which would result in a free float of 36%, whereas in "Nuclearelectrica", after an IPO, the state would be left with a stake of 51%, and the Proprietatea Fund would be left with 6%.