Romgaz to be listed by March 2013

Newsroom 23/08/2012 | 14:42

The initial public offering (IPO) of the gas producer Romgaz will be carried out by March of next year, after a consultant will evaluate the gas reserves of the state-owned enterprise, according to an IMF memorandum seen by Mediafax newswire.

The listing of Romgaz on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) is part of a larger privatization program agreed by Romania with the IMF. The government was expected to cash in around EUR 1 billion this year by selling minority stakes in 5 energy companies, including Hidrolectrica, the now insolvent hydro-power generator and Nuclearelectrica, the nuclear power producer.

“We will miss the target for selling the shares in Romgaz and Hidroelectrica by the middle of October. We intend to list a 10 percent stake in Hidroelectrica after it exits insolvency,” notes the memorandum.

Romania got around EUR 36 million earlier this year from the secondary public offering (SPO) in Transelectrica, the grid operator. This was quoted as a road opener by analysts, but the rest of the listings have been delayed, either due to technical reasons or weak markets.

The next test for the domestic capital market is the SPO of Transgaz, the gas network operator, which is scheduled for mid September. The listing of Nuclearelectrica was planned later this year, but is likeley to be carried out in early 2013, as the nuclear power generator is currently selecting a consortium for the IPO.

The consortium that carries out the Romgaz listing comprises of invesment banks Goldman Sachs, Erste – BCR and the brokerage Raiffeisen Capital & Investment.

Romgaz, which is the largest natural gas producer in Romania, registered last year a net profit of RON 762 million (EUR 179 million) and a turnover of RON 4 billion (EUR 890 million).