Eskom Seeks Financial Advisers on Separation Into Three Units

(Bloomberg) -- Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the state utility that supplies most of South Africa’s power, said it’s seeking to appoint advisers on how to restructure itself into three separate units, a reorganization that was proposed to let it to better deal with an untenable debt burden.

The separation of the Johannesburg-based company into transmission, generation and distribution units was first raised by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa more than two years ago. The company has since reduced its liabilities but is still struggling to manage almost 400 billion rand ($28 billion) in debt, and has subjected the country to intermittent power cuts since 2005.

The so-called request for proposals is in addition to an earlier notice seeking advisers on how to fund the closing and re-purposing of a number of the company’s coal-fired power stations into sites that could generate electricity from natural gas or renewable sources.

“The RFP is only for financial advisers to assist with Eskom’s legal unbundling and separation,” the company said in a response to questions.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.