The Hungarian government signed a letter of intent on May 28 with Elmű and Émász shareholders RWE AG, RWE Power AG and RWE Beteiligungs GmbH on the acquisition of their universal service businesses in Hungary.
Universal service providers are companies that provide households with electricity using a price structure and level controlled by the state.
Some 50% of Elmű-Émász Ügyfélszolgálati shares will be transferred to the state utility ENKSZ on January 1 and the remaining half will be transferred as of January 1, 2017.
The two companiesʼ small customers will be served by ENKSZ from January 1, 2016 on.
In preparation for the deal, Elmű and Émász shareholders approved on October 20 the transfer of their universal service providing divisions into a new jointly-owned company, Elmű-Émász Ügyfélszolgálati, which they set up in August this year.
Elmű and Émász are power distributors for Budapest and North Hungary, respectively.
In addition to Elmű and Émász, the only other universal service providers in the field of electricity in Hungary are French-owned EDF Démász and German-owned E.ON.
ENKSZ launched services on the gas market last May, using Főgáz, also a former unit of RWE, as a bridgehead.
