Vattenfall says that it expects to close its bid to acquire Dutch utility Nuon by July after the vast majority of Nuon shareholders accepted its offer.
Sweden-based Vattenfall made an all-cash offer of EUR8.5 billion for Nuon in February as part of its strategy to expand in Europe. The transaction still requires competition clearance from the European Commission.
Over 90 per cent of Nuon shareholders have accepted Vattenfall’s offer, paving the way for Vattenfall to become a leading player in the Benelux region. “The Netherlands is one of the most attractive regions for Vattenfall’s expansion and provides significant risk diversification for the Vattenfall group,” said Vattenfall CEO Lars G. Josefsson. “The cultures between the companies have proven to be a perfect fit, in the past months of working towards the closing of the deal.
“Nuon shares our vision of becoming climate neutral by 2050 and together we will accelerate the investments in renewable energy as well as continue developing CCS technology (Carbon Capture and Storage).”
Nuon will form the Business Group Benelux of Vattenfall, responsible for developing Vattenfall’s operations in Benelux and taking a leading role in the development of Vattenfall’s gas activities.
In a separate development, Lars Josefsson has accepted an invitation from the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, to become an advisor on energy and climate.
The Secretary-General has set up a high-level advisory group on energy and climate change in order to help him navigate the debate on the role of the energy sector in climate change and make “timely and appropriate policy contributions to the climate and energy challenges facing the world today”.
“I am happy to accept the invitation to participate in this high-level advisory group, which I hope will play an important role in advancing decisions and measures crucial to curbing climate change,” said Josefsson. “The invitation is also a recognition of the significance of Vattenfall’s efforts to advance the energy and climate issue.”
