Belgium's new Prime Minister Yves Leterme will use a visit to French president Nicholas Sarkozy Monday to smoothe the final hurdles to a sale of Belgian gas distributor Distrigas to Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA (E), de Tijd reports.
Eni has made the best offer for French energy giant Suez's (SZE.FR) majority stake in Distrigas SA (DIST.BT).
The purchase of Distrigas would improve competition in Belgium's energy market - at present almost entirely dominated by Suez and Gaz de France, the paper said.
Suez must sell its stake in Distrigas as a condition of its merger with Gaz de France (1020848.FR). Eni is part of a shortlist which also includes Germany's E.ON AG (EONGY) and Electricite de France SA (1024251.FR).