French oil and gas major Total has not made a decision on whether to bid for Dutch energy company Eneco, the firm’s chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Thursday.
Total has been mentioned alongside others including Shell as vying for Eneco, which analysts estimate to be worth around 3 billion euros ($3.41 billion).
“We are in the Netherlands. We are one of the players. We have a marketing and services activity, we have a refining activity, so we know the Netherlands and it is true that we are willing to expand our electricity portfolio,” Pouyanne said.
Total is focused on completing and merging the activities of Belgium’s Lampiris, and French alternative power provider Direct Energie, which it bought for 1.7 billion last year.
The French firm has said it plans to grow its retail electricity business with a target for at least 15 percent of the French retail gas and power market by 2022, or seven million customers in France and Belgium.
It has also said it was keen to enter other European markets.
“We are looking at various opportunities and we will see if this one is of interest for us,” Pouyanne said, adding that a decision has not been made.
Source: Reuters.com