Shareholders in energy company Enersis Americas, a unit of Italy’s Enel, approved on Wednesday the merger of all its subsidiaries in South America except Chile, marking a key step in a lengthy restructuring process.
Under the reorganization, Enersis Americas will absorb subsidiaries Endesa Americas and Chilectra Americas , which have a generation, transmission, and distribution assets in Peru, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. The new entity will be renamed Enel Americas.
At the meeting, which took place in the Chilean capital of Santiago, 88.4 percent of shareholders agreed to the merger, which shareholders in Endesa Americas and Chilectra Americas are expected to ratify later on Wednesday.
Last year, Enel proposed restructuring its Latin American operations into two subsidiaries, one encompassing its Chilean assets and one encompassing all other assets in the region.
The process has not been without controversy, as a Chilean pension fund shareholder had challenged parts of the process in court and ultimately voted against the merger at Wednesday’s meeting.
In the next major step of the restructure, shareholders in Enersis Chile, Endesa Chile, and Chilectra will need to approve the merger of Enel’s Chilean assets at meetings scheduled for next week. (Reporting by Felipe Iturrieta and Rosalba O’Brien; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Alan Crosby).
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Source: Reuters.com
