Romania to sell 42 pct in electricity distributors

BUCHAREST, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Romania plans to sell 42 percent stakes in three state-owned electricity distributors to strategic investors, according to a selloff proposal published by the economy ministry on Tuesday.

The plan, which needs the approval of the full cabinet, includes a capital increase in Electrica Muntenia Nord, Electrica Transilvania Nord and Electrica Transilvania Sud.

The increase would allow an investor to have a 51 percent stake in a company it buys. Five bidders should be short-listed for each company, the ministry said.

Romania, which will join the European Union next year, has already sold stakes in five out of eight units of the Electrica group, to Czech utility CEZ <CEZPsp.PR>, Germany's E.ON <EONG.DE> and Italy's Enel <ENEI.MI>, for around 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion).

"The process of privatisation will be done individually for each subsidiary, by selling 42 percent of existing shares to a strategic investor," the ministry said.

In August, Economy Minister Codrut Seres told Reuters the state might offer the distributors in a package because of their small size. ((Reporting by Aurora Martiniuc, editing by Steven Silber; +40 21 315 8320)) ($1=.7870 Euro)

Keywords: UTILITIES ROMANIA DISTRIBUTORS