GIP to buy $4.5 billion stake in Gas Natural
According to Spanish newspapers, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is in preliminary discussions to acquire a stake in Gas Natural SDG SA, the largest integrated gas and electricity company in Spain and the third largest distributor of gas and electricity on the Iberian market.
Spanish global energy company Repsol owns about 34% of Gas Natural and Criteria Caixa, a subsidiary of Spain's third largest financial institution, La Caixa, owns 30%. Both are considering different possibilities to sell about 10 percent of Gas Natural’s shares each.
The sale of the 20% stake could reach a total amount of about €4billion (US$4.46 billion).
KKR & Co., an American multinational private equity firm, is also considering to invest in the company, according to sources.
In January 2015, GIP invested in the clean-energy assets of Spain’s Actividades de Construccion y Servicios (ACS). The GIP/ACS partnership will consist of two principal components:
- acquisition by GIP of up to a 24.4% ownership interest in Saeta Yield S.A. (Saeta) which owns 688 MW of operating wind and solar assets in Spain, and
- acquisition of a 49% stake in another company which will own the remaining 460 MW of assets located in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Uruguay and Peru and will be responsible for future development of renewable energy assets around the globe
