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Bloomberg
Enel SpA is weighing a sale of its operations in Peru as it seeks ways to cut debt and fund new investments, according to people familiar with the matter.
Italy’s largest utility is working with advisers on the potential disposal, which could be valued at about $5 billion, the people said. The asset has drawn preliminary interest from strategic suitors and investment funds, one of the people said.
Shares in Enel rose as much as 3.1% on Friday. The stock was up 2.7% at 2:29 pm in Milan, giving the company a market value of $54.2 billion.
Enel, which recently cut its profit target for 2022 in the wake of the global energy crisis, is exploring asset sales outside Italy in a bid to reduce its debt pile and finance new
investments, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month.
Enel’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation in Peru were €465 million in the first nine months of the year, less than 4% of the group’s roughly €12.4 billion total, according to its results for the period.
Enel has already announced disposals with an expected impact on net debt of around €4 billion by year-end. These include the sale of the entire stake in its Russian unit, as well as assets in Brazil and Chile.