AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A consortium led by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp (T:8058) is to buy Eneco, the Dutch energy company owned by 44 cities, in a deal that values it at 4.1 billion euros ($4.52 billion), Eneco said on Monday.
Eneco, a highly-valued asset due to its strong focus on renewable energy, said it had been swayed by Mitsubishi's plans to allow the company to continue its strategy and corporate identity.
"The consortium made the best offer for shareholders and all other stakeholders of Eneco, including employees," the company said in a statement.
The Mitsubishi offer beat two other consortiums bidding for Eneco, one led by Shell (L:RDSa) and the other by Rabobank.
Under the terms of the deal, Mitsubishi will own 80% of Eneco and partner Chubu (T:9502) will own 20%.
The deal, which is backed by Eneco's boards and a committee representing shareholders, must still be approved early next year by Eneco's municipal shareholders.
Eneco said Mitsubishi already owns 400MW of Dutch offshore wind power, and would combine those operations with Eneco.
In September, Eneco reported first half earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 272 million euros ($303 million) for the first half of 2019, up from 230 million euros a year earlier.
