E.ON To Sell Gas Grid Unit To Macquarie Consortium For EUR3.2 Billion
May 16 2012 - 8:23AM
Dow Jones News
German utility E.ON AG (EOAN.XE) said Wednesday it has agreed to
sell its natural-gas transmission grid to a consortium led by
Australian bank Macquarie Group Ltd.'s (MQG.AU) infrastructure
funds, in a deal worth EUR3.2 billion.
The consortium includes Macquarie's European Infrastructure Fund
4, Abu Dhabi's Infinity Investments, British Columbia Investment
Management Corp. from Canada and the capital investment unit of
German reinsurer Munich Re AG (MUV2.XE), said E.ON in a written
statement.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter 2012,
said E.ON, subject to approval by the German Federal Cartel Office
and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
The announcement confirms a previous report by Dow Jones
Newswires that the Macquarie consortium has beaten stiff
competition, including from financial heavyweights such as German
insurer Allianz SE (ALV.XE) and French partially state-controlled
utility GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR).
-By Jan Hromadko, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 503;
jan.hromadko@dowjones.com