By Rishav Chatterjee
(Reuters) -Chinese billionaire Wang Yusuo’s ENN Group is aiming to buy the rest of clean energy company ENN Energy, valuing the firm at HK$90.50 billion ($11.64 billion), with the aim of streamlining operations in its natural gas business
ENN Natural Gas, which currently holds a 34.28% stake in ENN Energy, is proposing to buy out the rest of the clean energy distributor for HK$59.48 billion ($7.65 billion), the companies said on Wednesday.
The offer, made on March 18, values each ENN Energy share at HK$80, representing a 47.6% premium over the company’s closing price on March 17.
“All in all, our initial valuation view is that in the case of privatisation, the price will need to be at least HK$67.02-HK$74.26 to make it attractive,” said Osbert Tang, equity analyst at Smartkarma on March 24.
The offer was made on March 18 and is at a 47.6% premium to ENN Energy’s close on March 17, the companies said.
The move comes amid Beijing’s push for energy security, urging major domestic oil and gas firms to sustain production levels and boost natural gas output to reduce reliance on foreign supplies.
China, the world’s largest importer of oil and gas, has also been cutting back on its seaborne gas imports in recent years.
ENN Natural Gas, listed in 1994, operates in gas sales, infrastructure management, engineering construction, and installation.
Wang Yusuo is the chairman of ENN Group and has a net worth of $7.3 billion according to Forbes.
ENN Energy and China Petroleum and China Corporation had in December 2011 offered to buyout China Gas, which failed due to regulatory approvals.
Market analysts note that ENN Energy has been trading at a discount compared to its peers. “Aside from price-to-book numbers, ENN Energy is trading at a discount to a peer basket – and this has widened in recent years,” said David Blennerhassett, an analyst at Smartkarma who added that the HK$80 per share offer was “optically fair”.
($1 = 7.7758 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and David Evans)
