Endesa is owned by the Italian energy group Enel. The company launched a comprehensive asset-sale plan aimed at reducing its heavy debt load by 21,000 million euros, with 10,000 million tied to operating income increases and 11,000 million from divestments, not counting the debts of the businesses it sells.
Last November, the Transalpine group unveiled its divestment strategy as part of a broader strategic framework for 2025. The plan includes this year’s decision to sell its gas client portfolio in Spain, a move that Endesa controls. The completion of this operation will mark a significant milestone in Enel’s ongoing restructuring, following the year’s first major liquidation under the plan.
Enel has also reached an agreement with the Greek Public Power Corporation (PPC) to divest its Romanian assets for 1,260 million euros, with the possibility of additional payments tied to future development. This step signals Enel’s exit from the Romanian market, which has been officially closed since 2005, with execution expected in the third quarter of the year pending competition approvals.
The sale of the Romanian business is anticipated to positively impact Enel’s net debt by about 1,700 million euros, with 100 million already reflected in 2022 accounts and the remainder in this year’s reports. Similarly, net income is expected to decrease by roughly 1,400 million, with 600 million attributed to the release of foreign exchange reserves this year. The group notes that these changes are unlikely to materially affect its ordinary results.
Mechanisms for sale in Spain
Enel, which holds a controlling stake of 70 percent in Endesa, plans to leverage the new strategic framework to reorganize markets and concentrate activities in six core countries: Italy, Spain, the United States, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. The plan implies winding down operations in Romania, Peru, and Argentina during the current year as it focuses growth in the selected markets.
Even in markets targeted for growth, the approach is to begin a liquidation process rather than expanding existing operations, with a target completion by 2023. The strategy includes the sale of the entire gas marketing client portfolio in Spain. The roadmap indicates that the value of the gas portfolio in Spain has been crystallized, representing the exit from the gas customer base, which stood at around 1.8 million users by December. Endesa and its parent company previously signaled in updated guidance that electricity generation from gas plants would cease before 2040, with the current step aimed at monetizing the customer portfolio now.
Endesa’s Chief Executive José Bogas told investors a few weeks ago that discussions had already begun regarding selling the gas marketing business, with several interested parties identified, though progress remained modest at that time. With the ongoing divestments, Enel expects to meet its net debt target in the 51,000 to 52,000 million euro range by year-end and to reduce current debt levels from around 69,000 million by approximately 25 percent.