Madrid - Spain's top utility Endesa on Friday asked two courts to lift a suspension of rival Gas Natural's takeover bid to open the way for shareholders to choose between it and a higher offer by the German energy giant E.ON.
The Spanish stock market regulator CNMV on Thursday gave the green light to E.ON's 37.1-billion-euro (47.4-billion-dollar) takeover bid for Endesa.
Endesa asked the Supreme Court and a Madrid mercantile court to lift the injunctions it had requested earlier against the Gas Natural offer because they also prevent the E.ON bid from being approved by shareholders.
Endesa wants the courts to replace the suspension of Gas Natural's bid with that of its voting rights if it acquires a stake in Endesa.
The Supreme Court was not certain to comply with Endesa's request, because it had earlier deemed the Gas Natural offer contrary to the interest of consumers, judicial sources said. The court's decision was not expected until the end of the year.
The Supreme Court had suspended Gas Natural's bid while investigating the Spanish government's decision to approve it.
The government had favoured Gas Natural over E.ON, hoping to create a national champion in the energy sector to protect the industry from foreign influence.
The Madrid mercantile court had also suspended the offer to probe Gas Natural's plan to sell Endesa assets to competitor Iberdrola if it took over Endesa.