Chinese state-owned power supplier China Three Gorges (CTG) is hoping to increase its ownership of Portugal’s largest utilities company EDP with a €9 billion takeover bid, raising concerns in Europe and the U.S. of China’s growing presence in the region.
CTG already owns 23.3% of the company and wishes to buy the remainder at €3.26 a share all-cash, the Financial Times reports. This would value EDP at €11.8 billion and be one of China’s largest European company takeovers.
EDP also manages renewable energy stations in the U.S. where the prospective deal would require approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or CFiUS.
China has given considerable attention to economically-troubled Southern European countries like Portugal following the fallout of 2008’s financial crisis. Of the €9.2 billion raised from Portuguese privatisations between 2011 and 2014, Chinese investment made up 45%. Incumbent Prime Minister Antonio Costa, speaking on the EDP deal, said that his government had “no reservations to raise.”
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