Engie narrows Equans suitors list to five - sources

Bain Capital Specialty Finance

15/09/2021 18:07

PARIS, Sept 15 (Reuters) - French utility Engie  ENGIE.PA 
has selected five out of seven bidders for its Equans services
unit and hopes to elicit binding offers in the coming weeks, two
sources familiar with the matter said. 
    The gas and power group is simplifying its sprawling
structure, which includes a Belgian nuclear arm that is due to
be phased out, and is raising funds by selling off non-core
assets to expand into renewable energy.
    The services businesses, which include areas like building
maintenance, was hoping to attract bids of between 5 and 6
billion euros, sources have previously said. The offers hit the
high end of that range, one of sources on Wednesday said. 
    U.S. investment firm Apollo Global Management  APO.N  and a
duo formed by private equity firms CVC and PAI have been struck
off the list of bidders, the sources added.
    Industrial groups Bouygues, Eiffage and Spie have made it
through to the next round, as well as Bain and Carlyle. Binding
bids are expected by the end of October, the sources said. 
    The bidders and Engie declined to comment. 
    Engie, which is almost 24% owned by the French state, aims
to wrap up the process by the end of the year and ahead of a
presidential election in 2022. It is likely to look at job
guarantees offered by the various bidders as well as the prices
as it reviews the offers. Equans employs 74,000 people. 

 (Reporting by Sarah White, Benjamin Mallet and Gwenaelle Barzic
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((sarah.white1@thomsonreuters.com; + 33 (0) 1 49 49 56 85;))