The Italian electricity group confirmed late on Tuesday that it had bought the stake for €39 a share.
"This shareholding acquisition in Endesa...is part of Enel's strategy aimed at strengthening the company's position on the European electricity market," Enel said.
The offer is higher than the €38.75 a share Germany's Eon is offering for 100 per cent of Endesa.
Endesa shares closed down 0.9 per cent, at €38.12, following reports of the Enel move. Enel needs the approval of Spain's energy commission to buy more than 10 per cent.
The move, which is understood to have the blessing of Spain's Socialist government, comes just three weeks before a critical meeting of Endesa shareholders, called to decide on whether to lift a 10 per cent cap on voting rights.
Enel, Acciona, a Spanish infrastructure and energy group which is Endesa's largest shareholder with at least 21 per cent of the company, and Sepi, the Spanish state holding group, could frustrate a proposal to lift the cap on voting rights. The bylaws can only be changed if 50 per cent of the equity with voting rights approves.
Eon has made its offer contingent on the removal of voting restrictions. Even if the bylaws are changed, Eon's offer is still conditional on receiving acceptances of at least 50 per cent of Endesa's shares. The Spanish government has never disguised its hostility to the German takeover.
Joan Clos, industry minister, reiterated the sentiment on Tuesday, saying he favoured a "Spanish solution" to the takeover battle, which began in September 2005 with a bid, now withdrawn, by Gas Natural, a Spanish gas utility. "There will probably be a kind of pact," Mr Clos said. "I would say a Spanish solution had greater chances of success [than the German bid]."
The "Spanish solution" is understood to have been discussed by prime ministers Jose Luís Rodríguez Zapatero and Romano Prodi.
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