Buyers selected for EUR4.1 bn privatization in the Netherlands

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. have been selected as the preferred buyers in a bid for the Dutch Energy Company Eneco. Through their joint establishment of a special purpose company in the Netherlands called Diamond Chubu Europe B.V., MC and Chubu expect to acquire up to 100% of Eneco’s shares at a value of EUR4.1 billion (US$4.5 billion).

Mitsubishi Corporation (80%) and Chubu (20%) will fund the proposed transaction fully by using existing cash resources.

Active mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, Eneco has the second largest share of the Dutch energy market, with a portfolio that includes an installed capacity of approximately 1,200 megawatts in renewable energy assets. Its businesses include power generation (partly via its renewable assets), the trading and sale of both gas and electricity, and the supply of district heating systems. The company has been a 100% green energy provider to its consumers since 2011, offering innovative solutions that make it easier for customers to make the switch to more sustainable and smarter energy consumption. The company is recognized by environmental groups as an active participant in climate change countermeasures.

The agreement is supported unanimously by the board of management and supervisory board of Eneco, who consider it to be in the best interest of Eneco and all of its stakeholders.

The central works council has a positive view on Mitsubishi Corporation and Chubu as future shareholders and has rendered unconditional positive advice on the transaction.

The MC/Chubu consortium will further expand the business of Eneco internationally: Eneco will become the European centre for all energy-related activities of Mitsubishi Corporation, a global enterprise with great ambitions in the area of energy transition, and Chubu, the 3rd largest Japanese energy company with about 10.2 million retail customer contracts and focussed on non-fossil energy sources Mitsubishi Corporation plans to transfer part of its offshore wind activities (more than 400 megawatt) to Eneco.

Eneco will remain intact as an integrated and independent Dutch energy company: the brands of Eneco, its corporate culture and corporate identity remain unchanged, the employment and employment conditions remain unchanged, the head office of Eneco remains in Rotterdam.