Gas Natural Fenosa has divested its two Italian subsidiaries Gas Natural Vendita Italia S.p.A (GNVI) and Nedgia S.p.A.
GNVI as been purchased by the Italian company Edison (fully-owned by French energy group EDF) for €192.8m (corresponding to an enterprise value of €263m after debt repayment and provision) along with a €30m long-term gas-supply contract. Through this acquisition Edison will increase its Italian customer base by 50%. Edison is expected to consolidate the acquisition as from the closing date, which is expected to occur between December 2017 and March 2018, however, the transaction is still subject to the European Competition clearance.
GNVI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gas Natural Fenosa and is present across Italy, mostly in Puglia, Calabria and Sicilia regions. As of 2016, it sold approximately 3 TWh of gas to 420,000 residential and 14,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) retail customers.
Nedgia S.p.A has been acquired by the Italian company 2iRete Gas for €727m. The company is present in eight Italian regions and operates a distribution gas pipeline network of 223 concessions, 7,300 km and around 460,000 customers. With this acquisition, 2i Rete Gas strengthens its presence in central and southern Italy, in particular in Sicily. Besides, the company commercializes electricity to 50,000 retail and SME Italian customers.
In the meantime, Edison also acquired a 11 TWh long-term gas supply contract from the offshore Shah Deniz II field (Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan) as part of the agreement and subject to the closing of GNVI's acquisition. The gas import from Shah Deniz II is scheduled to start at the end of 2020 following the completion of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project. The total consideration payable for the gas supply contract amounts €30m, of which a down payment of €10m and an earn-out of €20m, payable starting from 2021.