E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) said Monday it has agreed to sell its Italian natural gas distribution network company E.ON Rete to a consortium of Italian and French financial investors.
E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) said Monday it has agreed to sell its Italian natural
gas distribution network company E.ON Rete to a consortium of Italian and
French financial investors.
The deal values the gas grid unit at around EUR290 million, and will result in
cash proceeds of around EUR255 million, the German utility said in an emailed
statement
E.ON said that the buyers are Italian infrastructure investment fund F2i SGR
SpA and Axa Private Equity, a unit of AXA SA's (CS.FR) multi-expert asset
management company AXA Investment Managers. They are taking 75% and 25% stakes
respectively.
Acquisition finance is being provided by Banca IMI, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC
Bank PLC (HBC), Banco Santander SA (STD), Société Générale SA (SCGLY) and
UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI). Banca Leonardo, HSBC, Banca IMI and UniCredit acted as
as financial advisors to the buyers.
The deal comes just one year after F2i and Axa bought Enel SpA's (ENEL.MI)
Italian natural gas transmission network as the two buyout firms continue with
their plans to focus on developing the distribution network of energy and
systems in
Italy
and
more broadly in
Europe
.
Following completion of the deal with E.ON, F2i and AXA Private Equity will
have an increased presence in the gas distribution industry, with more than 2.7
million clients and a market share of 15.8%, the firms said.
The sale is part of E.ON's plan to sell EUR15 billion worth in assets by the
end of 2013 to refocus the company and reduce debt.
It is the second time E.ON has attempted to sell the business. In April 2010 it
stopped a first attempt, saying that bidders failed to come up with attractive
offers for the asset.
E.ON said it expects the transaction to close by the end of the first quarter
of 2011, adding that it still requires antitrust approval.
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