Abu Dhabi’s Taqa Holds Talks With Naturgy Shareholders Over Deal - Bloomberg
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. has approached two shareholders of Naturgy Energy Group SA about the possible acquisition of their stakes in the Spanish gas and power firm.
Taqa, as the Abu Dhabi-based investor is known, is holding talks with buyout firms Global Infrastructure Partners and CVC Capital Partners to possibly buy their shares in Naturgy, it said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. Naturgy shares jumped 5% in Madrid as they resumed trading after being suspended earlier.
The investor is also holding talks with Naturgy’s main shareholder, Spanish industrial holding company Criteria Caixa SA, regarding a possible “cooperation pact.” If Taqa acquires the stakes held by CVC and GIP, it would need to launch a full takeover offer for Naturgy, it said.
A deal would seek to end long-standing tensions between Naturgy’s four largest shareholders, who jointly control about 83% of the company. GIP and CVC each own about 21% of Naturgy, while infrastructure fund IFM owns about 15%. Criteria is the biggest shareholder with a stake of about 27%.
Taqa has hired Rothschild and Lazard to study ways to enter Naturgy’s capital, newspaper Expansion reported, citing three people in the market it didn’t identify. Taqa declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
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