Essent sells Belgian subsidiary to Luminus
A cross-border and multidisciplinary Linklaters team led by Arnaud Coibion and Jérémy Filbiche assisted E.ON SE on the sale of Essent Belgium to Luminus, a subsidiary of EDF.
The transaction consisting in a 100% share deal, is subject to the approval of the European Commission and is expected to close during Summer 2021.
Essent is currently supplying more than 500,000 electricity and gas customers in Belgium.
Essent is a 100%- subsidiary of E.ON SE, Luminus is a 68.6%-subsidiary of EdF S.A., the remaining stake is held by municipalities and regional bodies.
This transaction takes place in a context of consolidation in the energy sector where Linklaters had assisted the shareholders of Lampiris in its acquisition by Total in 2016. In 2017, Eni Belgium was bought by the Dutch (now Japanese) Eneco. The sale of Essent Belgium is another step towards a more consolidated market.
Arnaud Coibion: “This is a major transaction on the energy commodity supply market in the Benelux. We are proud of assisting E.ON on this complex project where multiple expertise where at play and had to come together. This transaction is an additional token of our leading expertise in the energy sector.”
The Linklaters team was led by Global co-head Energy and Utilities Arnaud Coibion (Partner, Corporate & Finance, Brussels) who joined forces with Xavier Taton (Partner, Dispute Resolution, Brussels), Florence Danis (Counsel, Dispute Resolution, Brussels), Isabel Rooms (Partner Antitrust and Foreign Investment Group, Brussels), Christoph Barth (Partner, Antitrust and Foreign Investment Group, Düsseldorf), Guillaume Couneson (Partner, TMT/Data protection, Brussels), Gijs Smit (Counsel, Energy Regulatory, Amsterdam), Nele Van Kerrebroeck (Managing Associate, Employment & Incentives, Brussels), Lothar Van Driessche (Managing Associate, Energy Regulatory, Brussels), Jérémy Filbiche (Senior Associate, Corporate & Finance, Brussels), Rodolphe Cartuyvels (Associate, Corporate & Finance, Brussels) and Anastasia Koutra (Associate, Corporate & Finance, Brussels).
