DONG board approves Goldman Sachs sale

In a rare interview Goldman Sachs expresses surprise over Danish debate

At an extraordinary general meeting today, the shareholders of DONG have approved the much-discussed capital increase that will see Goldman Sachs become an 18 percent stakeholder. Following the increase the state will own just 57 percent of the energy company.

Goldman Sachs is investing eight billion kroner out of a total 13 billion being raised by the issue of new shares.Pension funds ATP and PFA Pension, and some existing shareholders, are buying the remaining shares. It only took 33 minutes for the shareholders to approve the 12 sections at the EGM.

“The board is pleased that everything is now settled. It has been a long, bumpy and complicated process,” said the chairman of the board, Fritz Schur, at the beginning of the meeting, according to newspaper Berlingske.

Debate surprises Goldman Sachs
The shareholders have also agreed to let a representative from Goldman Sachs join the board. The new board member is German Martin Hintze, the managing director of Merchant Banking Europe at Goldman Sachs International in London.

Goldman Sachs had previously been reluctant to comment on the heated debate taking place in Denmark about whether the American investment bank should become a large shareholder. And according to Hintze, the debate came as a big surprise to the company.

“We have not previously seen anything like this, it is very unusual,” he told newspaper Børsen.

“We are now looking forward to beginning a co-operation that will create value for the state and for the shareholders,” he said. 

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