Warsaw electricity distibutor Stoen is standing at the point of privatisation. It is now almost certain that the German RWE will conclude a deal to buy the company as its offer is the best in the opinion of Stoen boss Zbigniew Bejma.
RWE wants to be the first company to offer multi utility services in Poland. To further this aim it is hoping to gain a stake in the water and sewage companies when they come up for privatisation and it has also got its sight on gas. Obviously question marks as to time hang over these privatisations and the government has made next to no effort to say anything about the gas industry.
However that could all well be in the distant future. For the moment, and back in the real world, Stoen hopes to improve its market sector and is not going to miss its chance. Bejma notes that a quick privatisation will give him a head start. At the same time as his competitors are trying to merge with each other, he will have a chance to get his hands on the key corporate players. And some of these will be the Polish subsidiaries of the German RWE.
Zbigniew Bejma says that it is now common practice for major concerns to come to an agreement on energy supply on a Europe wide, or even global, manner. RWE clients such as Volkswagen which has major plants near Poznan and in Silesia should therefore come to him.
Stoen has currently a five percent stake in energy sales. This is small when compared to the groups that will form from the merged distribution companies. However Stoen has a good client base which include only a few potential problem cases.
The latter would include the Ursus tractor factory and PKP but this is minor compared to those companies in Sile- sia which have to deal with the coal mines and steel works. The Silesians are no doubt jealous of Stoens comfortable position.
However it does not end with multi utilities. RWE is a shareholder in construction firm Hochtief which is already present in a big way in the capital. Stoen is hoping to enter the real estate market and is planning to build both offices and housing, obviously through Hochtief.