Eni's Plenitude Valuation Expected to Surpass $11 Billion
By Francesca Landini
RAVENNA, Italy (Reuters) -Eni expects investors interested in a minority stake in its renewables and retail arm, Plenitude, to value the business at more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) including debt, one of the Italian energy group's executives said on Wednesday.
Under its so-called satellite strategy, Eni plans to sell a second minority stake in Plenitude after Swiss fund Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP) bought an initial stake that valued the business at 10 billion euros.
"We have received binding offers for another Plenitude stake ... There are five bidders," Eni's Chief Transition and Financial Officer, Francesco Gattei, said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Ravenna.
Gattei said that recent market volatility triggered by U.S. trade tariffs had not dented interest in Plenitude.
Eni has evaluated preliminary offers and will soon move to the second phase of the process to seek binding bids and discuss governance and contractual details, Gattei said.
The expectation is that there will be a premium compared with the value established in the first transaction, he said without commenting on media reports that mentioned a valuation of up to 13 billion euros.
Eni last month sold 30% of its biofuel business Enilive to U.S. fund KKR.
The Italian group's long-term strategy is opening up its so-called satellite operations to outside investors including investment funds and private equity firms to raise funds for energy transition purposes.
Gattei said these satellite operations are expected to generate about 13 billion euros of cashflow in the next four years.
($1 = 0.9069 euros)
(Reporting by Francesca LandiniEditing by Gavin Jones, Alvise Armellini and David Goodman)
