Eneco, the last big Dutch energy company in public hands, is to be sold, the company’s shareholders and management board have finally decided after months of talks.

Eneco is currently owned by 53 local authorities including Rotterdam and will be sold via a ‘controlled auction’, which, shareholders hope, will enable them to realise the highest possible price. An IPO has also been on the cards.

Shareholders in October 2017 voted by a large majority to sell the company but since then, the board, supervisory board and the works council have been at loggerheads about how to proceed.

The Financieele Dagblad said in January that Shell was making preparations to bid for green energy firm. Other potential buyers include investment company HAL, pension fund PGGM, Japan’s Mitsubishi, Austrian energy group Vebund, private equity group CVC and French energy giant Engie, the FD said.

Eneco’s value is estimated at €2.5bn to €3bn – which would generate almost €1bn for Rotterdam, which has just under 32% of the shares.

The two other big Dutch energy firms, Nuon and Essent, were sold off years ago. Nuon was bought by Swedish state-owned company Vattenfall in 2009 for €10bn and Germany’s RWE bought Essent that same year for €8.3bn.