The Swiss energy group MET, specialized in energy, gas and oil products trading, shall take over all the businesses of the energy supplier Repower in Romania. In a press release, MET Group estimates that the transaction will be completed in September this year.
MET Group, which has operations in Romania since 2009, will take over all the local units of Repower in Romania, which covers about 5% of the market. The largest shareholder of MET is the Hungarian group MOL.
“We’re looking for new business opportunities to strengthen our position in the core areas of our operations, focusing on Europe. The takeover of the local unit of Repower is a great opportunity for MET Group to expand its retail portfolio in Central and Eastern Europe”, said Péter Pozsgai, Head of Strategy and Business Development at MET Group.
The two sides have agreed not to disclose the transaction value.
Repower is present on the Romanian market since 2010, providing electricity services to small and medium enterprises. In 2015, the two local companies owned by Repower cumulated a turnover of over 570 million lei and losses of over 13 million lei, with a total staff of 30. Last year, the Repower group announced that it cancels investments of 200 million Swiss francs in Romania due to the volatile market legislation for renewables and wants to give up the local energy trading business, to “focus on operations in its key markets, Italy and Switzerland”.
According to reports published by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), last year Repower Furnizare Romania had a share of almost 5% on the competitive segment, being the fifth largest energy supplier in this market segment.
In an analysis from February 2016, the analyst Adi Mirsanu said that “the Repower business in Romania is seen by market sources mergers and acquisitions as a target that matches strategic investors who either could be interested to enter the market or see a good opportunity to expand their market position.”
In Romania, MET Group is present through MET Romania Energy Trade, a company founded in 2009, with activity focusing on gas supply. Since the end of 2014, the company has expanded its business in Romania to supply electricity. The year 2015 meant for the 12 employees of MET Romania Energy Trade a turnover of 129 million lei and a loss of 3.7 million lei.