Romania's Hidroelectrica IPO values group at EUR 9.5bn

Romania’s Hidroelectrica SA on Wednesday announced the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) at RON 104 per share, implying a market value for one of the largest hydropower producers in Europe of RON 46.8 billion (USD 10.3bn/EUR 9.5bn).

The IPO will see Fondul Proprietatea SA, an alternative investment fund managed by Franklin Templeton International Services SARL, sell roughly 78 million shares. Including the overallotment, the volume is 89.7 million shares, which represents Fondul’s entire stake of 19.94% in Hidroelectrica. All of the remaining shares are owned by the Romanian government.

The company said that the offering was oversubscribed multiple times at the offer price, with strong demand from both global and Romanian investors.

The price range in the IPO prospectus was between RON 94 and RON 112. After settlement on July 10, the shares are expected to start trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) on July 12 under the symbol H2O.

Hidroelectrica chief executive Bogdan Badea said the successful IPO “is a significant milestone for both Hidroelectrica and Romania, which will support our company’s long-term development.”

“As Romania’s leading electricity producer with a 100% renewable energy portfolio, we aim to drive value creation as we help the country deliver on its energy transition,” the CEO added.

Hidroelectrica has 6.3 GW of installed hydropower capacity and 108 MW of onshore wind capacity from the Crucea wind farm. Between 2018 and 2022, it accounted for an average 29% of total electricity supplied to the grid in Romania.

Over the past three years, the company has experienced growth in both its revenue and profits. Consolidated revenue grew to RON 9.45 billion in 2022, up from RON 6.49 billion in 2021 and RON 3.84 billion in 2020. Profits reached RON 4.46 billion in 2022, up from RON 3.12 billion in 2021 and RON 1.56 billion in 2020.

(RON 1 = USD 0.220/EUR 0.202)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!