CEZ: Acquisitions continue

Following Friday’s news regarding CEZ’s cooperation with the Bosnian Government on the development of the energy sector, CEZ said that the potential investments would concern power plants Ugljevik and Gacko with installed capacity of 300 MW each (5% of CEZ’s installed capacity), and a coal mine. According to the Bosnian Government the investment may reach EUR 1.5bn, nevertheless the sum is subject to due diligence and time frame issues. In addition, CEZ began talks with VS Energy International on stakes in nine distribution companies in the Ukraine with focus on OAO Sevastopolenergo (95.18%), OAO Khersonoblenergo (94.51%), OAO Kirovohradoblenergo (94%), and OAO Zhytomyroblenergo (91.6%). The value of the deal is said to be USD $490-540 million. CEZ said that it plans to be more aggressive in the new tenders than it has been previously. We believe that CEZ will have to adjust to the intensifying competition in the new tenders, which are now attracting the largest utilities including RWE, Enel, E.ON, Iberdrola, etc. We believe that the current wave of utility assets privatizations/sales will not be seen for another decade, and CEZ can now utilize its low CAPEX needs and strong free cash flow generation. On the other hand, we are convinced that CEZ would not offer a price that would be value-destroying. We expect the news to have a slightly positive trading impact and we reiterate our Buy recommendation on the stock.