The Colombian government has temporarily suspended its search for a buyer for Naturgy's (formerly known as Gas Natural) power distribution firm Electricaribe (ECA) and will resume the process later in 2019. Besides, it announced it would invest approximately US$220m in the company and estimates that it will requires investments of around US$2bn in the next 10 years. The Italian utility Enel was interesting in purchasing the firm but the process did not move forward as fast as planned because the company only consider the acquisition along with a Colombian partner.
The government will assume responsibility for approximately US$370m in Electricaribe's pension obligations to make the sale offer more attractive in the future.
Colombia ordered the liquidation of Naturgy's affiliate in March 2017 because of service provision failures. Naturgy acquired a 85% stake in ECA in 2000. ECA distributes power to about 2.6 million people in northern Colombia, on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Naturgy attributed the liquidity difficulties to customers failing to pay and people connecting illegally.