DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
MILAN (Dow Jones)--Talks with France's Electricite de France SA
(EDF.FR) to break up Italian power utility Edison SpA (EDN.MI)
might miss their deadline at the end of the month due to
disagreements about the valuation of some assets and the sharing of
debt, according to a representative of one of Edison's
shareholders.
"It's possible that we'll slightly miss [the] Dec. 30
[deadline]," Giuliano Zuccoli was quoted as saying in an interview
published Sunday in the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
It would be the latest in a series of deadlines missed this year
by the parties negotiating the future of Edison, the second-biggest
gas and electricity provider in Italy, after Eni SpA in gas and
Enel SpA in electricity.
Through a separate company, EDF and a group of Italian companies
share ownership of Edison.
Zuccoli heads the management board of A2A SpA (A2A.MI), one of
those Italian companies that has spent months negotiating with
EDF.
In the interview, he said the shareholders and EDF disagree
about the value to be given to an Edison division called Edipower
that runs power plants.
The disagreement has led to the hiring of consultants Duff &
Phelps to determine a value for it, he says.
The Italian companies also reject a request by EDF to assume 800
million euros ($1.07 billion) of EUR1 billion of debt held by
Edipower, Zuccoli said.
Il Sole 24 Ore reported Saturday that EDF had sent a letter to
the Italian companies expressing its concern about the length of
time it was taking to reach a deal.
-By Gilles Castonguay, Dow Jones Newswires;
+39 348 596 5667;
gilles.castonguay@dowjones.com