Elia in €595 Million IPO

Cleary Gottlieb represented selling shareholder Electrabel in the  €595 million IPO of Elia, Belgium’s electricity grid operator.  The transaction was the largest Belgian IPO so far in 2005 and established an absolute record in Belgium for retail demand (the offer was 10 times oversubscribed).

The IPO included a secondary offering by Electrabel and other shareholder SPE of approximately 40% of Elia’s shares, and a primary offering of €150 million of newly issued shares.  The shares were sold in both a public offering to Belgian investors, and through private placements in Belgium and abroad (outside the U.S. under Reg. S). The shares are listed on Eurolist, the regulated market of Euronext Brussels.