Reuters reports that China’s state-owned power companies have responded to the central government’s “internationalization strategy” for SOEs by deploying their strong cash positions abroad, where they have encountered few political roadblocks amid Europe’s debt dilemma:
A quarter of Portugal’s power grid operator, REN, will be sold to China’s State Grid Corp for 387 million euros ($507.82 million), part of a wave of privatizations Lisbon has to carry out under the terms of its 78-billion-euro European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout loan.
On Wednesday, the State Grid News, the Chinese company’s official publication, said the need by struggling economies to sell off state-owned assets “created entry opportunities” for China, and the deal would provide a springboard into other markets.
The State Grid isn’t the first to take advantage of Europe’s troubles, and is not expected to be the last.
