Dow Jones Newswires says that Li Ka-Shing is interested in purchasing the asset for its stable and reliable returns. In June he purchased the Dutch waste management firm AVR for almost a billion euros.
Fortum’s Finnish grid could be worth up to 1.5 billion euros, according to Dow Jones.
The 85-year-old billionaire has competition in the race to buy the utility, with Hastings Funds Management and a consortium led by First State Investments mentioned by Dow Jones as possible bidders.
One other possibility was proposed by Finland’s Centre party last month. The party, which is currently in opposition but tops opinion polls by five percentage points, wants to establish a state-owned infrastructure company that would reinvest proceeds from electricity transmission.
