The European Commission (EC) has cleared the acquisition of a 70% stake in Engie's subsidiary Exploration & Production International (EPI) by Neptune Energy, which is supported by three investment funds: Carlyle, CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS (CVC) and China Investment Corporation (CIC). In May 2017, Engie received a firm and binding offer from Neptune Energy for the sale of its 70% interest in EPI to Neptune Energy for an aggregate value of €4.7bn. The EC estimates that this transaction does not infringe the EU competition principle.
EPI is the exploration and production branch of Engie, which already sold a 30% stake to China Investment Corporation (CIC) in December 2011. EPI has upstream oil and gas interests in the United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Algeria and Egypt. A the end of 2016, EPI booked 2P reserves of 672 mboe (79% gas and 21% liquid hydrocarbons) and its equity production was 148 kboe/d in 2016. In 2016, the group produced 56.3 mboe of oil (37%) and gas (63%).