Wintershall, a wholly-owned subsidiary of chemical group BASF, plans to divest its shareholding in the Eastern German company Verbundnetz Gas (VNG) as part of its strategy to concentrate on the upstream sector. An agreement was reached that will see EWE Aktiengesellschaft, a German utility, take over Wintershall’s 15.79% share in VNG. The transaction requires the approval of the competition authorities. In addition, it is subject to board approvals in both companies and also requires the approval of the VNG annual general meeting.
Wintershall has been concentrating increasingly on the upstream sector in the last two years. As a consequence of this, the company is divesting its own natural gas trading and storage business. Wintershall has agreed an asset swap with Gazprom in which the previously jointly run natural gas trading and storage business is being transferred entirely to Gazprom. In return, Wintershall is gaining additional shareholdings in western Siberian gas fields.
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