The electricity giant is using its massive cash stores to pursue acquisitions in nearly every country in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in a push to solidify its dominance in the region. The campaign will cost the largest company on the Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) billions of crowns, but analysts say it's logical because ČEZ has the money to spend and won't see another time when so many prime acquisitions are up for sale.

"ČEZ wants to be the major player in the region," says Petr Novák, a financial analyst at Atlantik Finanční trhy. "They are trying to expand because assets around the Czech Republic, in the Balkans for instance, are [on offer for low prices] but could go up."

Tomáš Gatěk, an analyst at Patria Finance, puts it into simpler terms: "Now is the time to buy."

ČEZ signed a contract Jan. 31 with American company PSEG Global to buy majority stakes in two Polish power plants: Skawina and Elcho. The two sides agreed not to release the deal's price tag, but local brokerage houses estimate ČEZ spent around 10 billion Kč ($425 million).

The same day, ČEZ announced it had placed a binding bid for 67.5 percent of Romanian power distributor Electrica Muntenia Sud S.A. It already owns another Romanian power distributor, Electrica Oltenia, following a successful bid during Oltenia's privatization last year.

ČEZ is one of the final four bidders in a tender to acquire Macedonia's AD ESM power distributor and is working on other Balkan deals.

The acquisitions come at a time when high energy prices generate huge cash inflows for ČEZ. CEO Martin Roman boasted that the company has 3 billion euros (85 billion Kč/$3.7 billion) to spend on expansion. And analysts say the company could raise billions more through, for instance, a euro bond offering.

ČEZ is already the largest power company in the region, so the expansion will only strengthen its position. The acquisitions in Poland are particularly important because it gives ČEZ access to the largest market, in terms of population, in CEE and also to new coal supplies.