Vattenfall Europe Says Has Reopened German Grid Sale Process

German utility Vattenfall Europe AG Thursday said it has reopened the bidding process for its power transmission grid after the company failed to agree on key issues with a financial consortium with which it was in exclusive talks.

Vattenfall Europe spokesman Steffen Herrmann said the tender process has been reopened to other suitors earlier this months, but declined to say how many new parties have joined the process or identify their names.

Recent media reports cited unidentified sources as saying that Vattenfall Europe is talking to Belgian power grid operator Elia System Operator SA (ELI.BT).

Herrmann added that the original timeframe that aimed at selling the 9,500 kilometer ultra-high voltage power grid by the end of the year was now unlikely to be achieved.

Herrmann also said that Vattenfall has failed to agree on key issues in the exclusive talks with the financial consortium consisting of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Allianz SE (ALV.XE) and Deutsche Bank AG's (DB) infrastructure fund RREEF.

These issues include the purchase price, which people familiar with the matter previously said was around EUR500 million.

Company Web site: www.vattenfall.de

-By Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]