Italian utility Enel sells stake in Russian unit to local investors

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian utility Enel said on Thursday it has agreed to sell its 56.43% stake in Enel Russia for around 137 million euros ($144.15 million) to local investors.

The transaction, expected to be completed within the third quarter of this year, will mark the full exit of the Italian group from Russia and follows similar moves by the world’s biggest energy companies, including BP Plc and Shell Plc after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Enel Chief Executive Francesco Starace told Reuters the deal to sell the stake in the Russian subsidiary was close.

The sale will have a negative impact on reported group net income of about 1.3 billion euros, Enel, the top utility in Italy, said in a statement, mainly driven by the release of currency reserves. It added that the company’s ordinary financial results would not be affected.

The deal is expected to have a positive effect on the group’s consolidated net debt of about 550 million euros.

Enel said Lukoil, Russia’s second-largest oil producer, and private fund Gazprombank-Frezia will buy its stake in the unit.

Established in 2004, Enel Russia has approximately 5.6 GW of conventional capacity and around 300 MW of wind capacity at different stages of development.

($1 = 0.9504 euros)

(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi and Francesca Landini; editing by Federico Maccioni and Paul Simao)