EDF May Buy 15% of Iberdrola, Shun 100% takeover Bid

Electricite de France SA may buy 15 percent to 18 percent of Iberdrola SA rather than bidding for all of the Spanish utility, Abc reported, without saying where it got the information.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero are negotiating such an agreement, the newspaper said. The French utility can't afford a full acquisition and doesn't wish to get anti-French feelings in Spain by taking over its rival, Abc said.

Electricite de France would pay partly with assets, transferring to Iberdrola several French nuclear-power plants that are related to a new cable that crosses the common border, Abc said.

Sarkozy, at a press briefing late yesterday in Brussels, declined to speculate on a possible EDF purchase of Iberdrola, Abc said. ``I don't know at what stage the negotiations are between the two companies,'' he said, according to the report.