“Nobody from outside imposed an Electrica IPO. It was due to the Prime Minister, as he wanted to offer a clear signal of restructuring for the Romanian economy,” Dumitrascu said at the beginning of the first day of trading in Bucharest.
The government agreed with the International Monetary Fund to sell 51% of its shares in Electrica on the stock exchange via initial public offering.
Karoly Borbely, state secretary with the Energy Department in the Economy Ministry, stated that the floating of Romanian companies on Romanian and London stock exchanges should continue, while the state should diminish its role in the companies it controls.
Electrica SA sold dollar-denominated global depositary receipts (GDRs) equal to 19% of the total stock offered at its initial public offering ended June 25.
Electrica raised 1.95 billion lei (EUR444.3 million) in its initial public offering of 51% of its shares, the largest IPO on the Romanian capital market to date. The company sold 177.18 million shares and GDRs at RON11 a share and $13.66 a GDR, respectively.
Following the IPO, the Romanian state owns 49% in Electrica. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested EUR75 million in the offering and secured 8.6% of the stock, becoming its second-largest shareholder. The third largest shareholder is Dutch group ING.