Weather Fund's Bid Values Wind SpA At EUR12 Bln - Source

MILAN (MF-Dow Jones)--Weather Investment, a consortium led by Egypt's Sawiris family, has made a bid for Wind SpA (WIF.YY), valuing Enel SpA's (EN) telecommunications subsidiary at EUR12 billion, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The person said Weather Investment made the bid late Monday, on the heels of a rival offer from the Blackstone Group (BGP.XX).

That bid valued Wind around EUR11.5 billion in debt and equity, according to media reports. Blackstone didn't comment on those reports.

Weather Investment, comprising Naguib Sawiris, who controls Orascom Telecom Holding (ORTE.CI), and Apax Partners & Co. (APX.YY) as primary partners, is offering to buy 63% of Wind for EUR2.8 billion to EUR3 billion, financed with cash, a vendor-financed loan and a high-yield bond, the person said.

They said Weather would also assume all of Wind's EUR7.4 billion in debt.

Under the bid's terms, Enel would have a put option to sell the rest of Wind's equity in the first half of 2006, a delay allowing the former Italian electricity monopoly to benefit from tax credits for Wind's accumulated losses, the person said.

Alternatively, Enel could keep its stake until the second half of 2007, when Weather would seek to sell shares in Wind through an initial public offering.

Weather's offer will last through mid-April, by which time the company expects a response from Enel Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni.

Enel management has indicated it doesn't want to accept less than the roughly EUR13 billion it has invested in Wind. However, Scaroni is also set on focusing on the power company's core businesses.

Weather would keep Wind's management in place and seek to exploit synergies with Orascom as part of Sawiris' bid to create an integrated telecommunications company serving 100 million clients from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia.

-By Lorenzo Peiroleri and Christopher Emsden, Dow Jones Newswires; +39-02-58-21-99-05; chris.emsden@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 29th March 2005