FORTUM CORPORATION INVESTOR NEWS 8 January 2016
Fortum has made a public tender offer in Poland to purchase all shares in Grupa Duon SA, an electricity and gas sales company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Fortum will carry out the acquisition if it receives at least 51% of the shares by the end of the offer period. The transaction is aligned with Fortum's strategy to grow its share in electricity sales and related customer services.
The price offered per share is PLN 3.85, representing 19.2% premium to Duon's three months' weighted average share price. The offer period commences on 28 January 2016 and is estimated to close on 26 February 2016. The offer has been made in compliance with the Polish legislation and rules of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and it is subject to the Polish competition authority clearance.
Shareholders representing approximately 44% of Duon's share capital including the current members of the management board have committed to selling their shares to Fortum subject to certain conditions. Fortum does not own any of Duon’s shares at the moment.
Duon sells electricity and natural gas in Poland on a third-party access basis (TPA), that is via transmission and distribution networks operated by distribution companies. It is one of the largest privately-owned retail electricity and gas sales entities in Poland. In addition, Duon is involved in the wholesale trading of electricity and gas. The company also supplies grid gas and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) via its own infrastructure. Duon's market capitalisation on 7 January 2016 was approximately PLN 393 million (approx. EUR 90 million).
"Duon would offer us a good growth platform on the Polish retail market as Fortum is looking for ways to grow faster in new energy services for consumers, communities and businesses," says Markus Rauramo, Executive Vice President, Heat, Electricity Sales and Solutions segment of Fortum.
Fortum Corporation
Corporate Communications
Further information (call-back requests):
Markus Rauramo, Executive Vice President, Heat, Electricity Sales and Solutions segment
Matti Saario, Head of Electricity Sales
Media enquiries and call-back requests:
Helena Aatinen, Senior Vice President, Communications, tel. +358 1045 20480
In Poland: Izabela Van den Bossche, Vice President, Corporate Communications, tel. + 48692209428
Investors and analysts:
Sophie Jolly, Vice President, Investor Relations, tel. +358 10 45 32552
Duon Capital Group
Duon sells electricity and natural gas. The company was founded in 2000, and it is currently one of the leading independent providers of electricity and natural gas in Poland. It is also a leading distributor and transporter of LNG. In 2014, its revenues were PLN 636 million (EUR 152 million) and EBITDA PLN 36 million (EUR 9 million). Currently, it employs approximately 600 people. The company has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2007 (DUO:WSE).
Fortum in Poland
Fortum has been operating in Poland since 2003. It currently has three combined heat and power (CHP) plants and over 800 km of district heating networks, which serve around 360,000 households in the cities of Płock, Wrocław, Częstochowa, Zabrze and Bytom. The overall power generation capacity is over 200 MW and heat generation capacity over 1,100 MW. Fortum is currently building a new multi-fuel CHP plant in Zabrze with the investment value of approximately EUR 200 million. The company has about 600 employees in Poland.
Fortum
Fortum’s purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. Fortum’s expertise is in CO2-free and efficient electricity and heat production. The company also offers energy-related products and expert services to private and industrial customers and energy producers. Fortum’s main areas of operation are the Nordic and the Baltic countries, Russia and Poland. In 2014, the annual sales (excluding the divested electricity distribution business) totalled EUR 4.1 billion, and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.1 billion. The company employs approximately 8,000 people. Fortum’s share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.fortum.com