RWE, E.ON near sale of stakes in Luxembourg's Enovos - sources
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German utilities RWE and E.ON are nearing a sale of their stakes in Enovos in a deal that values the Luxembourg energy provider at 2 billion euros (2 billion pounds), two sources familiar with the matter said.
RWE holds an 18.36 percent stake in Enovos, which was created in 2009 and also has operations in Germany, France and Belgium. E.ON has 10.0 percent. Both stakes are worth a combined 570 million euros, the sources said.
"The remaining shareholders have a right of first refusal and are in advanced talks to buy the stakes of the German utilities," one of the sources said, adding a deal could be signed within the next couple of weeks.
Enovos in 2013 posted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of (EBITDA) 194 million euros on sales of 2.95 billion euros.
European utilities trade at an average of 6.3 times their expected core earnings, according the Thomson Reuters data.
The remaining shareholders in Enovos International include the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (25.44 percent), Societe Nationale de Credit et d'Investissement Luxembourg (SNCI) (10.01 percent), City of Luxembourg (8.00 percent) and GDF Suez (4.71 percent).
An Enovos spokeswoman said talks were continuing.
RWE, E.ON and Luxembourg declined to comment.
Private equity group Ardian bought a 23.48 percent stake from ArcelorMittal in 2012 for 330 million euros.
E.ON, in a major restructuring after announcing it would split in two in 2016 to focus on renewables and power grids, is currently trying to offload several assets in a bid to raise much-needed cash.
After selling its Spanish unit, E.ON is still seeking buyers for assets in Italy, its stake in uranium-enrichment company Urenco and is weighing a sale of its exploration unit in the North Sea.
RWE, in its own effort to shed assets responding to the energy sector's woes, has agreed to sell its oil and gas business DEA [RWEDE.UL] and is also looking to offload its Urenco stake.
(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels and Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf, editing by David Evans)
