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Acciona, Enel to present bid plans for Endesa to regulator
AFP
MADRID
Petroleumworld.com 03 30 07
Construction group Acciona said Thursday it would next month present the Spanish stock market regulator with plans to join Italy's Enel in bidding for Spanish electricity group Endesa.
An Acciona spokesperson said a ruling by the regulator, the CNMV, that the two companies cannot bid for Endesa until October "does not mean that we cannot present our plans to bid before that time."
Acciona said the joint bid would be unveiled between April 16 and 20.
The CNMV has determined that Enel and Acciona, a Spanish company, must wait six months from the April 3 closing date for an offer for Endesa from German group E.ON before making their move.
Earlier Thursday, E.ON, a German power company, said it would ask the Spanish high court to block the counter-bid by Enel and Acciona.
The German group earlier this week took similar legal action against its rivals in a US federal court.E.ON has offered 40 euros a share for Endesa, which would value the company at 42 billion euros.
But Enel and Acciona, who together already control 46 percent of Endesa, have proposed at least 41 euros a share, an offer that values the Spanish company at 43.4 billion euros.
Enel said Wednesday it was prepared to take legal action against the Spanish stockmarket regulator for delaying its bid.
But in a statement Thursday, E.ON head Wulf Bernotat argued that "if the behaviour of Enel and Acciona is illegal today, it will also be illegal in six months."
"We must therefore completely bar the two companies from making a bid for Endesa."
The Spanish government has been fighting tooth and nail to keep E.ON from taking over Endesa, even though EU competition regulators have approved the deal.
The E.ON-Endesa case has been widely seen in Brussels as a flagrant example of protectionism by Spain.
The European Commission decided on Wednesday to open a second lawsuit against Spain for blocking the bid by E.ON.
AFP 29 1742 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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