Sweden, Netherlands to create leading energy company in Europe

STOCKHOLM, Feb. 23 (Chinese media) -- The Swedish state-owed company Vattenfall announced on Monday that it will take over the Dutch energy firm Nuon NV to form a leading European energy company.

Vattenfall has made an 8.5-billion-euro (about 10.9 billion U.S. dollars) cash offer for Nuon, and it intends to buy initially 49 percent of the shares of Nuon while the remaining 51 percent of the shares will be acquired in the coming six years under fixed terms, according to the agreement reached by the two companies.

However, Vattenfall will have operational control over Nuon after completion of the first acquisition.

The deal will enable Vattenfall to further implement its strategy toward a leading position in the European energy market and enhance its position in gas, said Lars Josefsson, CEO of Vattenfall, in a statement.

"Nuon's widely respected knowledge in renewable and clean energy technologies is a very valuable addition to our own. It will accelerate the realization of Vattenfall's strategy to make electricity clean," he added.

The takeover requires the approval of the European Commission and at least 80 percent of Nuon shareholders. It would mark the second foreign takeover of 2009 in the Dutch energy market. Last month, German RWE took over Essent, an electricity producer.

Vattenfall is one of the largest energy companies in Northern Europe with sales in 2008 of 164.5 billion Swedish kronor (about 18.9 billion U.S. dollars). Nuon is one of the largest energy producers and distributors in the Netherlands with 10,000 employees globally.