Bernard Levy is not Henry Proglio and it didn't take much for him to give another speed to EdF of which he became number one. It was Levy himself who pushed Edison's subsidiary to attack all the Italian assets of E.on, the German energy group which has decided to put its Italian subsidiary up for sale.
Edison presented E.on with a non-binding offer in the order of 2 billion to take over the hydroelectric and thermoelectric plants, the package of 900 electricity and gas customers and the stakes in Olt's offshore LNG and the Tap pipeline. Only the E.on assets in the renewables sector would be excluded from Edison's offer.
The battle for the conquest of E.on thus gets to the heart, even if the outcome is not obvious because, in addition to Ediso, Hera (to take over the customer package) and the F21 fund for the wind and solar plants of E.on Italy.
Edison's offer is mixed, partly in cash and partly in shares and, if successful, will be followed by the merger with E.on and then by listing. The project is ambitious and reveals Edison-EdF's clear intention to build an alternative pole to Enel.