Tennet Holding BV’s German business is attracting interest from potential investors including GIC Pte and Apollo Global Management Inc., as the Dutch government nears a decision on what to do with the unit of the state-owned grid operator, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen is set to review options during the next couple weeks for Tennet Germany, the people said. Government officials and advisers have recently been holding talks with investors to gauge their interest in participating in either a private placement or an initial public offering for the unit, the people said. They’re seeking to get a more concrete sense of interest after the government decided in July to postpone a decision on which path to take.
Singapore sovereign fund GIC has expressed interest in buying a stake in Tennet’s German unit as part of a potential private placement, alongside the Norwegian wealth fund and Dutch pension manager APG, according to the people. Meanwhile, Apollo has been holding talks with Tennet about possibly providing as much as €4 billion ($6.02 billion) of capital to the German unit at the time of either a private placement or IPO, the people said.
The Dutch government has been holding talks separately with investors about a potential listing and has received interest from around 15 cornerstone buyers for the mooted offering, which could value the German grid business at €10 billion to €12 billion, the people said. They are considering setting aside as much as €5 billion for such cornerstone investors, one of the people said.
The government is tentatively considering announcing the listing plans later this month if it decides to go ahead, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. ABN Amro Bank NV, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are leading the IPO work as global coordinators, Bloomberg News has reported.
The future of Tennet’s German power grid has been in limbo for years after an attempt to sell the business to Berlin failed. Dutch officials are still at options for the business due to the massive investments needed in grid infrastructure for Germany’s energy transition.
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Deliberations are ongoing and details of the plans could change, the people said. A spokesperson for the Dutch finance ministry referred to a letter that Heinen sent to parliament in July, stating that a decision would be made about Tennet Germany in September, and had no further comment.
“No decision has been made at this stage regarding the form of the transaction, and Tennet will continue to explore both options in parallel,” a spokesperson for the company said. Representatives for APG, Apollo, GIC and the Norwegian sovereign fund declined to comment.
