By Gianluca Baratti and Adam L. Freeman
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Endesa SA was suspended from trading in Madrid after El Pais reported Enel SpA had agreed to take full control of the Spanish power producer.
Enel, Italy’s largest utility, will purchase Acciona SA’s 25 percent stake in Endesa, the Spanish newspaper said on its Web site, citing unidentified people close to the talks. Trading in Acciona also halted, according to Spain’s stock-market regulator.
An Enel official, who asked not to be named, said no accord had yet been reached when contacted by Bloomberg News. An Endesa official, also declining to be identified, said the company’s board had not yet met. A spokeswoman for Acciona didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail message seeking comment.
Any deal would require Enel, which became Europe’s most indebted utility when it bought Endesa with Acciona in 2007, to increase borrowing. For Madrid-based Acciona, an agreement may give it control over Endesa renewable-energy assets as it seeks to become the world’s second-largest operator of wind parks, after fellow Spaniard Iberdrola Renovables SA.
Enel dropped 0.6 percent to 4.35 euros in Milan trading at 1:15 p.m. local time. The benchmark S&P/MIB Index fell 3 percent to 16,000.
Enel was saddled with 51 billion euros ($64.4 billion) of debt as of Sept. 30 following its 42.5 billion-euro Endesa takeover. The Rome-based company will agree on a loan of about 8 billion euros as soon as today to finance the acquisition of the Endesa stake, two bankers with knowledge of the deal said.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Mediobanca SpA and Banco Santander SA are arranging the loans, said the bankers, who declined to be identified before the transaction is completed. The arrangers are syndicating part of the debt to about nine other lenders, the bankers said, without giving further details.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gianluca Baratti in Madrid at gbaratti@bloomberg.net; Adam L. Freeman in Rome at afreeman5@bloomberg.net
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