Energy firm Fortum has made an initial, non-binding offer to purchase the stake held by the four largest shareholders of circular economy firm Ekokem.
The big four own 80 percent of the company and are the government, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, the pension insurance company Ilmarinen and Helsinki Regional Environmental Services Authority, HSY.
Fortum did not disclose the price it has offered for a controlling share of Ekokem, nor did it reveal any timetable for concluding a possible deal, but it said that Ekokem would be a good fit for its clean energy strategy.
The state also holds a majority stake in Fortum, with 50.76 percent share ownership.
In February this year, Ekokem announced that it was considering an IPO, or listing on the stock exchange. Parliament had previously given the state a green light to completely sell off its 34-percent shareholding in the company.
Last winter Director General of the Prime Minister’s office, Eero Heliövaara estimated the value of Ekokem at hundreds of millions of euros and said it had outstanding potential in the natural resource re-use market.
Ekokem currently employs 700 people in the Nordics and group revenues in 2015 amounted to some 258 million euros.