Energy firm Eneco stops hunt for new shareholders

Energy company Eneco has stopped looking for new shareholders after its 61 local authority owners said they were unhappy at having their stakes reduced, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

The paper says Eneco needs to find €400m to fund the separation of itself into supply and delivery companies by January 1 2011, and to invest in boosting its production capacity.
An Eneco spokesman said the company is now considering taking out a subordinated loan to cover part of the bill and hopes to have the financial details sorted out within six weeks.
Sale
Eneco is the third biggest energy company in the Netherlands. The numbers one and two – Essent and Nuon – have sold themselves to foreign companies.
The FD says The Hague city council, which owns 16.6% of Eneco, is keen to sell its stake if the price is right.
Rotterdam, which owns 31% has no plans to sell and is looking at ways to help the company fund the split off of its supply arm, the paper says. These could include a dividend holiday or bank guarantee.