PRAGUE, April 23 (Reuters) - Czech power utility CEZ is preparing to spin off non-production assets such as electricity, gas distribution and trading, and sell up to 49% of the unit to investors, news website irozhlas.cz reported on Thursday.
CEZ and Industry Minister Karel Havlicek declined to comment on the report, which cited unidentified sources as saying the move could raise funds for a share buyback that would give the state full control over the company's power generation assets.
CEZ shares were up 1.3% at 0926 GMT.
The government owns about 70% of CEZ, which has a market capitalisation of around $31 billion. The current government has said it wants full control of the firm, or at least its electricity generation business.
Havlicek told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Thursday that this remained the government's goal within its term running until 2029. The government has said any buyout of minority shareholders would be funded from CEZ's own resources.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis said initial steps would be taken at CEZ's annual general meeting, which the company called for June 1 on Wednesday.
Irozhlas.cz said the spinoff plan was due to be discussed at the meeting.
The new unit, which would be led by CEZ Deputy Chairman Pavel Cyrani, could be floated in an initial public offering or offered directly to investors such as international infrastructure funds, the report said.
Reporting by Jan Lopatka. Additional reporting by Alicja Surdy in Gdansk. Editing by Mark Potter
Source: Reuters