Tepco to sell up to 26 million shares of Kandenko as part of restructuring
FILE PHOTO: Logo of the Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings (TEPCO) is seen on helmets at TEPCO's South Yokohama Thermal Power Station in Yokohama, Japan July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
TOKYO, Jan 29 : Tokyo Electric Power said on Thursday its unit TEPCO Power Grid will sell up to about 26 million shares in its affiliate Kandenko as part of restructuring efforts to improve its financial health and pursue growth.
The share sale, valued at about 150 billion yen ($979 million) based on Kandenko's Thursday closing price, is part of Tepco's plan unveiled on Monday to raise about 200 billion yen through asset sales over the next three years.
Proceeds will be used for capital investment to ensure a stable power supply and for growth areas such as green and digital transformation, Tepco said.
Speaking at an earnings press conference, Tepco's Representative Executive Vice President Hiroyuki Yamaguchi said the group is also considering selling shares in its other affiliate companies from the perspective of the corporate governance code, but declined to give details.
Kandenko separately said it will sell up to 26.187 million shares in a secondary offering, with the indicative price range to be set between February 16 and 19.
TEPCO Power Grid, which owns a 46 per cent stake in Kandenko, said its holding will not fall below 33.4 per cent after the sale.
Tepco also reported a net loss of 663 billion yen for the nine months ended December 31, due to a one-off loss related to preparatory work to remove fuel debris as part of the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and forecast a net loss of 641 billion yen for the year ending in March.
The utility halted the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station last Friday to investigate a malfunction after briefly restarting it earlier in the week. That was Tepco's first nuclear restart since the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Yamaguchi said the company is still investigating the cause of the malfunction and that the delayed restart will have a limited impact on earnings this fiscal year ending March, as it had only been marginally factored into the forecast.
($1 = 153.2700 yen)
