Vattenfall sells its Polish business
Sales agreement signed for Vattenfall’s assets in Poland. Agreements with Polish companies Tauron and PGNiG include all generation and distribution facilities for a total cash consideration of approximately EUR 1.8 billion. The transactions are expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
Today, 23 August, Vattenfall reached agreements with the Polish gas company PGNiG S.A. for the sale of Vattenfall Heat Poland S.A. (VHP), the leading heat and electricity generation company in Warsaw, and with the Polish energy producer and supplier Tauron S.A. for the sale of Vattenfall’s Gornoslaski Zaklad Electroenergetyczny (GZE), the leading electricity distribution and network services company in Silesia.
The enterprise value agreed for VHP is PLN 3.7 billion (approximately EUR 880 million or SEK 8.1 billion) and the equity value amounts to PLN 3.0 billion (approximately EUR 720 million or SEK 6.6 billion), to be paid in cash. The enterprise value agreed for GZE is PLN 3.5 billion (approximately EUR 838 million or SEK 7.7 billion) and the equity value amounts to PLN 4.6 billion for GZE (approximately EUR 1.1 billion or SEK 10.2 billion), to be paid in cash as well.
Vattenfall and both buyers expect the respective transactions to be completed by the end of 2011 after competition authority approval is obtained.
Both sales agreements cover the entire Polish electricity, heat, distribution and sales business of Vattenfall and will contribute significantly to achieving the company’s strategy of focusing on the three core markets Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The transactions will improve the company's financial flexibility and contribute to meeting Vattenfall’s goal to be among the leaders in developing environmentally sustainable energy production.
Øystein Løseth, CEO of Vattenfall, says: “We have successfully developed our businesses in Poland over the past years. Now I am pleased that we have found strong new owners, who can build on a solid foundation to further contribute to the transformation of the Polish energy market.”
The sales agreement with PGNiG covers all VHP operations including the combined heat and power plants Żerań, Siekierki and Pruszkow as well as the heat generation plants Kawęczyn and Wola, feeding heat into the local Warsaw and Pruzkow grids respectively. The total installed capacity of the plants is 4,800 MW (thermal) and 980 MW (electricity). In 2010 VHP sold 11.9 TWh of heat and 3.8 TWh of electricity.
The agreement with Tauron includes the distribution, network services and sales operations of GZE, which is based in Gliwice and operates in the Upper Silesia region, one of the most densely populated and most industrialized regions in the south of Poland which provides a strong base for electricity demand. GZE is a Polish Distribution System Operator providing approximately 10 per cent of the electricity consumed in Poland. Its operational area covers almost the entire Upper Silesia region and amounts to 4,221km2, serving 1.1 million customers. The length of its distribution lines amounts to almost 30,000 km. GZE was the first Polish electricity company that successfully implemented the unbundling requirements by way of separating its distribution and sales operations.
The transaction does not affect existing employment contracts of the 2.800 Vattenfall employees in Poland.
Vattenfall discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act.
From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: +49 30 8182 2320, stefan.mueller@vattenfall.com