Infravia fund to acquire Finnish electricity distribution firm

InfraVia has announced that InfraVia European Fund II (InfraVia II), its second European infrastructure fund, has agreed to acquire a 100% stake in Kilpilahden Sähkönsiirto Oy (KS).

The transaction is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2015.

KS is a newly founded power distribution company fully owned by Finland's Neste Oil Oyj. The legal separation of the distribution business from Neste’s main business was required by the new Electricity Market Act (Sähkömarkkinalaki).

With 2,000 GWh of energy per annum distributed KS is one of the largest industrial distribution networks in the Nordics. Neste Oil is KS’ main counterparty through the Porvoo refinery whose total annual production is approximately 12.5 million tons.

In the next few years, the Kilpilahti’s electricity distribution network will require significant investments to improve the security and reliability of electricity distribution to critical industrial companies.

Vincent Levita, Founder and CEO of InfraVia, stated:

“We are pleased to invest in our second electricity distribution grid in Finland following the acquisition of RIG last year. Our investment in KS is a clear illustration of our strategy to assemble overtime a Nordic portfolio of similar assets and build a regional platform servicing key industrial partners.”

InfraVia II has recently acquired from GDF SUEZ Global Gas Holding Nederland B.V. a 20% stake in Noordgastransport B.V. (NGT), a natural gas transportation system in the Dutch sector of the North Sea. With a daily transportation capacity of 42 Mm3, NGT is one of the three major pipeline systems, connecting the offshore gas fields of the Dutch and UK sectors to the Dutch Gas Transport Services network.