Poland Chooses Domestic Group For Talks Over Energy Sale

Poland has picked a group of domestic investors for exclusive talks on the purchase of combined stakes in eight regional power distributors over bids by Germany's E.ON and Belgium's Electrabel.

El Dystrybucja, a Polish group that is being led by Kulczyk Holding, has three weeks to reach an agreement with the Treasury Ministry over the sale of the distributors, collectively called the G-8, ministry spokeswoman Magdalena Grudzinska said.

Poland has sought a buyer for G-8, whose members are located in northern and central Poland, for more than a year after ending exclusive talks with Spain's Iberdrola and Elektrim, a Polish power and phone company.

The government has agreed to sell more than the twenty five percent initially planned, thought it did not say how large the combined holding will be. The sale will be completed later this year. The original stake is valued at about half a billion dollars.

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