Enel announced today the sale of all its assets in Romania to PPC, a Greek public energy provider, for €1.26 billion. This sale is in line with the divestment plan announced by Enel’s CEO in November 2022.
A disposal plan to reduce debt
Indeed, Enel is planning asset disposals for a total of €21 billion as part of its 2023-2025 strategic plan. This plan aims to reduce the group’s debt and to focus on six key markets. This strategy should reduce the group’s debt to between 51 and 52 billion euros at the end of 2023, compared with 58 to 62 billion in 2022.
A rationalization strategy focused on six key markets
Enel intends to focus on Italy and Spain in Europe, and on the United States, Brazil, Chile and Colombia in Latin America. This rationalization strategy will be largely achieved this year. In addition, Enel began its withdrawal from Argentina by announcing in February an agreement to sell assets for $102 million. The group also plans to withdraw from Peru.
Impact on Enel’s net debt
The sale of the assets in Romania will have a positive impact of 1.7 billion euros on Enel’s net debt. On the other hand, this transaction will have a negative effect of approximately €1.4 billion on Enel’s net income for the period 2022-2023.
In conclusion, the sale of Enel’s assets in Romania marks an important step in the implementation of its divestment plan, which aims to reduce the group’s debt and focus on six key markets. The Italian group is thus pursuing its rationalization strategy by gradually withdrawing from certain markets, while focusing on those it considers to be the most promising.
