Denmark's centre-right won three elections in a row until 2011. Then Helle Thorning-Schmidt's (pictured) Social Democrats and allies finally won a small majority, and she assembled a government with the Social Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party. Danes on the left looked forward to a partial rollback of the centre-right's agenda. This is why they were so surprised to see one of Denmark's state-owned companies raise money from a sale to Goldman Sachs.
Dong and Goldman say that the sale (including Goldman's 8 billion kroner, or $1.45 billion) will help the utility invest in new capacity and green energy as well as oil and gas exploration. But Goldman's reputation as a cutthroat international investment bank caused an overnight political furore. Protesters draped a flag featuring an image of a vampire squid (as one American journalist dubbed Goldman for its role in the financial crisis) over the statue of a former king outside parliament. Angry Danes have criticised a lack of transparency, and terms that gave Goldman vetoes over major decisions such as a change in Dong's chief executive. Polls showed that a majority of Danes opposed the sale. Around 185,000 people, in a country of just over 5m, signed a petition against it. Several Danish pension funds demanded the right to be sold Goldman's stake on the same terms the bank had received. But the ruling coalition said that they had not made a serious and detailed offer in time.
The deal required parliament's approval, and the Socialist People's Party voted with its coalition-mates (and several opposition parties from the right-leaning camp) before leaving the government. Its leader, Annette Vilhelmsen, has stepped down. Her party's leadership had originally agreed to the sale before the furious opposition of a minority became clear. Ms Thorning-Schmidt will now reshuffle her government.
© EPAHelle Thorning-Schmidt
but I was working in the energy sector in my country for a decade and I don't see where the problem is in this case. I'd say that Goldman Sachs is making a huge mistake by entering the energy sector. I won't analyze it here but rather by summarizing I'd say that the energy sector is not good for business since the profit margins are usually rather small. But hey, wherever the name Goldman Sachs appears , just shoot without asking any questions.