Electricit de France (EDF) has hired JPMorgan to help it sell its stake in the Argentine utility Edenor.

 

EDF has hired JPMorgan to evaluate “strategic alternatives”, Edenor said in a statement filed with the Buenos Aires stock exchange. EDF says it has already begun holding preliminary talks with third parties interested in acquiring Edenor. Edenor has been plagued since 2001, when the Argentine government ordered its tariffs pegged to the peso. Utilities in Argentina, burdened with dollar-liked debt, have been unprofitable as a result of frozen tariffs.

 

Besides Edenor, Electricit de France owns the Los Nihuiles hydroelectric powerplant and the Distrocuyo power distributor in Argentina and Light, the largest power utility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.