TenneT launches potential sale of German grid operation

By Alban Kacher

(Reuters) -TenneT, the largest grid operator in the Netherlands and Germany, on Tuesday invited parties interested in taking a stake in its German operations to come forward.

The parties were asked to contact its financial advisers by March 25, the group said in a statement.

TenneT is raising fresh equity to support an estimated 200 billion euro ($217.92 billion) investment programme through 2034 and has indicated it could sell all of its German operations.

The Netherlands-owned grid firm is also still considering a possible stock exchange listing of TenneT Germany as an alternative to raising capital, it said in the statement.

"No decision for any transaction form has been taken at this point in time and TenneT continues to simultaneously explore both options," a group representative told Reuters.

The door remains open for the German state to take a stake in TenneT, company executives said last Thursday, after talks for Berlin to buy the German operations from the Netherlands collapsed last year due to budget constraints.

The planned transaction between the German and Dutch governments would have valued the deal at around 20 billion-25 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9178 euros)

(Reporting by Alban Kacher, Editing by Bernadette Baum, Kirsten Donovan)