The agenda of today’s Cabinet extra-ordinary meeting includes the sale of the state’s 16% stake in CEZ as proposed by the Finance Minister, Vlastimil Tlusty in order to finance the budget deficit. The Minister mulls the sale to start in the first half of next year gradually over the market.
Our view:
While speculations about the sale of CEZ have been present for long, the likelihood of the sale is now the highest. Note that the Cabinet does not need Parliamentary approval for the sale and it may theoretically remain in the office even should it not receive the vote of confidence on October 4. The 16% stake in CEZ represents c94.8m shares and is currently worth CZK 71.8bn ~ USD 3.23bn. The average daily trading volume of CEZ equals USD63.5m.