According to an announcement posted on the Budapest Stock Exchange website, Status Power Invest, a unit of Opus Global, has acquired 36.33% of shares in Mátrai Erőmű. Opus Global is a listed company owned by the oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros, a figure close to the government and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

With the acquisition announced last year and completed on Wednesday, Status Power Invest and EPH now hold a combined 72.66% ownership in Mátrai Erőmű, while a third party, the state-owned Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM), has retained a 26.15% stake in the power plant company.

The majority stake acquisition by Mátra Energy Holding has been completed following the fulfillment of its necessary obligations, the statement says.  To complete the transaction, in addition to paying the purchase price, Mátra Energy Holding had to obtain permission from the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority (MEKH), as well as from the European Commission.

By purchasing the share packet from RWE Power and the EnBW group, Mátra Energy Holding has acquired a majority stake in the power station in Visonta (northeast Hungary), the adjoining industrial park, the countryʼs largest solar power plant, and two lignite surface mines in Visonta and Bükkábrány, business daily Világgazdaság noted.