Germans Quit Hungarian Brown Coal

German power groups RWE and EnBW are selling their interests in the Hungarian power producer Matra to a joint venture of Czech privately owned energy firm EP Holding and a Hungarian investor.

Matra (Matrai Eromu Zrt) has 960 MW generation capacity, mostly a lignite (brown coal) fuelled plant supplied by opencast mines in Visonta and Bukkabrany, plus minor gas-fired and renewable capacity.

RWE and EnBW said December 14 that their respective 50.92% and 21.7% Matra stakes are to be sold to a consortium of EP Holding and to Status Power Invest, the latter owned by Hungarian investor Lorinc Meszaros. None of the parties will disclose price. The deal is expected to close 1Q2018 subject to relevant approvals, including that of the Hungarian energy regulator. The only other significant Matra shareholder is Hungarian state-owned power utility MVM 26.15% which is not reported to be divesting; other shareholders hold 1.22% of Matra - which employs just over 2,000.

Both German firms described Matra as non-core: RWE had transferred its Hungarian retail and grid activities to its subsidiary Innogy, while EnBW said it is refocusing towards renewable energy.

EP Holding owns assets, including power plants, in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany (where its subsidiary Mibrag is a significant coal producer), Italy, Poland, Hungary, and the UK. The company has also acquired more of the major European utilities' coal- and lignite-fuelled power generation assets in recent years, either to run them longer, or else to convert some to gas. In the UK, where new coal capacity is not possible, it has also both bought gas-fired plants and plans new ones.

Separately in its home German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, EnBW said December 14 it had been cleared to increase its stake by 6.28% in Mannheim-based energy supplier MVV Energie to 28.76% by the country's competition regulator (BKA); it is buying the extra stake from French Engie; the proposed deal was notified to the BKA in March 2017 which has not set any conditions.

Update: The European Commission approved February 12  2018 the proposed takeover of the Matra lignite-fired plant, as outlined above.