Viridian Turns Up The Heat In Bord Gais Auction

The Irish state’s sell-off of national gas company, Bord Gais, is heating up - if you'll pardon the pun. Under the terms of the EU/IMF bailout, the state must privatize the energy company in order to raise €1 billion to pay off part of the national debt.

The main players

However, while Viridian has been in the running from the start, both US investment giant The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX), and UK energy firm Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) (OTCMKTS:CPYYY), pulled out on seeing the €1 billion reserve price. Other potential suitors, such as Malaysian firm Tenaga Nasional Bhd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:TNABY), exited the race...