ČEZ, a.s.
Director General: Martin Roman
Web page: www.cez.cz
Number of employees: 29,529
Annual turnover: CZK 174.56 billion (EUR 7.25 billion)
Economic revenue: CZK 42.76 billion (EUR 1.75 billion)
Business: Production, distribution and selling of electric energy and heat ; mining and selling of coal.
Ankara - Czech energy giant ČEZ won yesterday a privatization bid for a Turkish energy distribution company Sedas which the Turkish government was selling as part of the industry privatization process.
Turkish privatization agency informed about the sale.
Sedas has 1.3 million customers in the industrial zone of Sakarya in the north-west of Turkey. The firm was bought in a consortium with local partners for USD 600 million, or CZK 9 billion. ČEZ will own 50 percent of Sedas.
ČEZ´s partners are Akenerji and industrial group Akkök.
"Overseas expansion"
"The success in Turkey makes us very happy. It is an important step in our overseas expansion and good news for our investors who will surely appreciate our merger with a strong local partner. We find the Turkish energy sector very promising," informed head of ČEZ Martin Roman.
Energy consumption in Turkey grows 8-9 percent a year. In 2020, Turkey will be in need of new plants that produce 50,000 megawatts of energy.
Ankara won by Austrian Verbund
Bedas company that supplies energy to the capital city, Ankara, was for sale too. Austria´s energy firm Verbund offered USD 1.23 billion (EUR 768 million) for it, which was much more than what ČEZ offered.
Turkey´s political instability and the government´s plans to regulate energy prices dissuaded a number of potential investors.
Privatization of distribution firms
"The level of regulation, prices and liberalization plan is always reflected in our offers," ČEZ spokesperson Eva Nováková informed Aktuálně.cz.
Turkey is reducing its majority interest in the energy sector in order to encourage investments in energy distribution networks. According to Bloomberg agency, all 20 regional distribution companies will be for sale.
ČEZ will decide whether to try to acquire other Turkish companies, added spokesperson Nováková.
