NEWS
Spain's $28Bln deal would affect LNG market
Barcelona, Sept 6 (LNG journal)
- Spain's Gas Natural Group, one of the largest European players in the liquefied natural gas market, on Tuesday made a hostile bid of around $28 billion in cash and shares for Spanish power producer Endesa in what would be the world's largest ever utility takeover deal.
Gas Natural, which earlier this year set up a joint company with oil and gas producer Repsol to form the third-largest LNG handler in the world after Korea Gas Corp and Tokyo Electric, offered €21.30 ($26.54) per Endesa share, a 14.8 percent premium on last Friday's closing price.
The bid would also involve the sale of as much as €9Bln of Endesa assets to win approval from European regulators. Gas Natural would assume Endesa's debt amounting to almost €20Bln, a statement said.
Gas Natural said after announcing its hostile bid that it had already agreed with another Spanish power company, Iberdrola, to sell it assets after the Endesa acquisition.
The takeover of Endesa by Barcelona-based Gas Natural is expected to affect the LNG regional market as Spain is Europe's second-largest LNG importer, behind France.
Spain currently has four LNG terminals and the takeover target Endesa is involved in developing two more Spanish terminals.
Endesa is part of the Sagunto terminal project in Valencia , southern Spain , and is involved in the El Ferrol venture in northwest Spain , which is scheduled to receive its first LNG deliveries next year.
Gas Natural, for its part, has filed applications with the Italian government for permission to develop two terminals for LNG in Italy , one in the northern port of Trieste and one in Taranto in the south.
In April this year Gas Natural and Repsol set up a joint company called Repsol-Gas Natural LNG, owned 50 percent by each, to step up cooperation in the area of LNG production, liquefaction, transport, trading and wholesale marketing.
