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Caja Madrid’s decision seals what should be a smooth takeover process since the bank represented the sole question mark remaining among Endesa’s largest shareholders. Together, Enel and Acciona control around 45 per cent of Endesa.
The move should earn the bank about 2.5 billion euros in capital gains after a two-year bidding war for Endesa drove up the share price to around 40 euros. The sahre price had been 18 euros when Gas Natural launched the original takeover offer in September 2005.
Enel and Acciona eventually won the tug-of-war for Endesa after buying large stakes in the target and pledging to out-bid German utility E.ON, which at the time was preparing the acceptance period for its 42.4 billion euro offer. In the end E.ON agreed to withdraw its bid in exchange for buying Viesgo, Enel’s energy unit in Spain.
Nevertheless, the European Commission is analysing the twelve conditions which Spanish energy regulator Comisión Nacional de Energía (CNE) imposed on Enel and Acciona’s bid. The 12 conditions deal mainly with maintaining Endesa’s current business plan and providing the CNE with regular reports on the management of the company.