EDF Would Renegotiate Edison Deal If Consob Forces Higher Price-CFO

French state-controlled power company Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) would renegotiate its proposed deal to take control of Italian utility Edison SpA (EDN.MI) if Italian stock market regulator Consob forces a higher price than the EUR0.84 agreed upon, EDF's Chief Financial Officer Thomas Piquemal said Friday.

Piquemal said the company's lawyers are working on a formal proposal to be sent to Consob within the next few days. He said EDF and the other shareholders of Edison have agreed on the general principle for a takeover deal and that lawyers are now working on the details.

The deal includes a payment of EUR0.84 a share for Edison, the share price's 12-month average, Piquemal said.

Consob will evaluate the deal and decide whether to force EDF to launch a tender offer on the outstanding shares of Edison and would have to approve the price. Piquemal said if Consob were to set a price above EUR0.84, EDF would ask for a full renegotiation of the deal because "this isn't the hypothesis over which we negotiated the agreement."

The EUR0.84 price values the company at about ten times its Ebidta, he said. "This is much higher than the current ratios of Edison's competitors, which are close to 5 or 5.5 times," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference held in Paris.

EDF currently holds about 50% of Edison directly and indirectly. The French company has been pushing for direct control following a series of costly natural gas contracts that have marred Edison's financial performance. Edison is 61.3%-held by Italian company Transalpina di Energia, itself 50%-held by EDF and 50% owned by investment vehicle Delmi, which in turn is led by Italian utility A2A SpA (A2A.MI).

After the takeover of Edison, EDF plans to use the Italian utility as a "pillar" for its natural gas strategy in Europe and accepted to abandon some assets, mainly hydro power plants, Piquemal said.

-By Inti Landauro, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 6 4608 4324; inti.landauro@dowjones.com

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