Three Gorges claims edge in Portugal stake sale

China Three Gorges Corporation said Monday that it had a slight advantage in bidding for a 21% stake in Portuguese energy company Energias de Portgual SA (EDP.ELI) and it hoped that edge would not be offset by political considerations, The Wall Street Journal reported. The statement was an attempt to ward off the kind of political opposition that has foiled other Chinese state-owned energy companies from making acquisitions abroad, such as Cnooc Ltd’s (CEO.NYSE, 0883.HKG) failed bid to aquire Unocal in 2005. China Three Gorges is still competing with Germany’s E.ON AG (EOAN.FRA) and Brazil’s Centrais Electricas Brasileiras (EBR.NYSE) to win the stake sale, part of the US$101.5 billion EU and IMF bailout package laid out in May that requires Portugal to recuce its budget deficit through spending cuts and asset sales. China companies acquired a total of 118 EU-based companies between 2008 and 2010, up from 18 acquisitions between 2003-2005, according to M&A consultancy Dealogic.