UPDATE: Essent Cancels Sale Of Essent Milieu
03 6월 2009 - 7:04PM
Dow Jones News
Dutch utility Essent NV said Wednesday it has decided to cancel
the sale of Essent Milieu, as the bidders' offers weren't
satisfactory and said it will consult its shareholders about the
future of the waste management unit.
Essent spokesman Jeroen Brouwers told Dow Jones Newswires that
the prices offered by the remaining bidders didn't meet the
company's criteria.
Brouwers added he couldn't say what will happen with Essent
Milieu now that the sale process is cancelled. "We'll have to
discuss the options with our shareholders first."
In May, Dow Jones Newswires reported that three potential buyers
were in the race to buy Essent Milieu. They included the Orange
consortium, consisting of infrastructure funds managed by Dutch
banks NIBC Bank and Fortis Bank Netherlands; Covanta Holding Corp.
(CVA) together with an unnamed financial party; and private equity
firm PAI Partners.
Earlier this year, the lion's share of Essent's activities was
sold to German utilities company RWE AG (RWE.XE) for EUR9.3
billion. This excluded Essent's power grids business and Essent
Milieu.
Essent Milieu was put up for sale in February in a deal that was
being advised by ING (INGA.AE) and Credit Suisse (CS).
Essent wanted to sell its waste management unit before the
completion of the takeover by RWE, which is due in the
third-quarter of 2009.
As previously reported by Dow Jones Newswires, the waste
management unit is likely to be valued at around EUR1 billion.
-By Maarten van Tartwijk and Robin van Daalen; Dow Jones
Newswires; +31-20-5715200; maarten.vantartwijk@dowjones.com