Public Power Corporation (PPC), Greece’s biggest power utility, has agreed to sell a minority stake in the country’s sole power grid operator, DEDDIE, to Macquarie Asset Management, PPC and Macquarie said on Wednesday.
The announcement came a day after PPC received shareholders approval for the sale.
PPC last month named Macquarie as the preferred bidder for a 49% stake in DEDDIE. Macquarie’s offer valued the stake at 2.1 billion euros, including debt of €804 million.
Macquarie Asset Management will invest in PPC on behalf of institutional investors, including pension funds and insurance companies, PPC and Macquarie said in a joint statement. “
The transition to net zero emissions is reshaping how electricity is produced, transported and used across the Greek economy,” said Martin Bradley, senior managing director at Macquarie.
“Significant investment in electricity distribution infrastructure is needed to facilitate this rapid change.”
PPC will retain a 51% stake in DEDDIE, which operates a 242,000-kilometer grid, bringing electricity to about 7 million households and businesses.
PPC is leading Greece’s decarbonization efforts as it plans to shut down all but one of its coal-fired plants by 2025.
