Italian utility Enel scooped up a blocking stake in OGK-5 on Wednesday for $1.52 billion, driving up valuations in the power sector by paying an unprecedented premium of 18 percent to the market price.

In a climate of tightening state control over strategic industries, Unified Energy System’s sell-off of all its assets is the country’s last large-scale privatization, and foreigner investors have not made many inroads into the power sector yet.

“We are so happy that it was Enel,” said UES spokeswoman Tatyana Melyayeva. “Yes, because they are a foreign company, but also because they have real experience working in Russia.”

The purchase of the 25.03 percent stake in OGK-5 in Yekaterinburg will bring Enel’s exposure to the Russian power sector to $4.4 billion.

“With OGK-5’s acquisition we delivered on our strategy to develop a strong, balanced, integrated position in the energy sector in Russia,” Enel CEO Fulvio Conti said in a statement.

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Posted: 06|8|07 at 9:26 am. Filed under: News.