Greek utility giant Public Power Corporation is preparing to launch a share sale that could rank among Europe’s largest equity offerings this year, as global investors pour into a bet on the country’s energy transition and the company’s rapid expansion into renewables.
The Athens-listed company, known as PPC, is expected to open books Monday for a capital increase of as much as €4.3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal comes amid investor demand that bankers involved in the transaction say has already approached €10 billion, signaling unusually strong appetite for a southeastern European utility once synonymous with Greece’s debt crisis and lignite-fired power plants.
The offering is expected to be priced at up to €19.75 a share, with the final price likely to land between €18 and €19, the people said. Books are scheduled to remain open through Wednesday in both Greece and international markets.
The transaction would mark another turning point for PPC, a former state monopoly that has spent the past several years reinventing itself as one of the region’s largest renewable-energy investors. The company plans to spend roughly €24 billion through 2030 on solar parks, wind farms, battery storage and grid modernization, part of a broader push by Greece to reposition itself as an energy hub for southeastern Europe.
Bankers close to the process said PPC ultimately decided against pursuing a significantly larger fundraising despite heavy oversubscription, opting instead to cap the deal near €4.2 billion to €4.3 billion — equivalent to nearly 60% of the company’s market capitalization.
The Greek government, which intends to preserve its 33.4% blocking minority stake, is expected to invest as much as €1.43 billion if the deal reaches its maximum size. Private-equity group CVC Capital Partners has also committed up to €1.2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The offering has attracted around 200 institutional investors and hedge funds globally, bankers said, while five large anchor investors have already secured allocations ahead of the formal launch of the book-building process.
Most of the capital is expected to come from outside Greece. Bankers estimate that domestic demand will account for only €200 million to €300 million of the transaction, with the overwhelming majority absorbed by foreign institutional investors.
The deal is also shaping up as a test of investor confidence in Europe’s utility sector at a time of elevated interest rates and volatile energy markets. PPC’s management is attempting to strike a balance between bringing in new international investors and limiting dilution for existing shareholders, whose ownership stakes will shrink as new shares are issued.
Company executives have pledged to structure allocations in a way that protects current shareholders despite the waiver of traditional pre-emption rights, according to people briefed on the discussions.
The investor mix is being closely scrutinized by the banks managing the sale. While long-only institutional investors are expected to dominate the register, bankers involved in the process say hedge funds are also viewed as important for ensuring sufficient liquidity and trading activity after the shares begin trading.
The expected pricing reflects that strategy. Bankers said the sale would likely be completed at a discount to PPC’s “unaffected” share price — the €18.63 closing level before the company publicly disclosed plans for the capital increase in April.
