Ancala, Danish pension pen Scottish gas deal

A subsidiary of UK investment manager Ancala has invested in a 323km gas pipeline in Scotland alongside Danish pension fund Industriens Pension.

Ancala Midstream Acquisitions bought US oil firm Apache’s 30.28 percent share in the Scottish Area Gas Evacuation (SAGE) system and the associated Beryl gas pipeline, in which Apache had a 60.6 percent share.

The 323km SAGE pipeline system, located in Aberdeen, Scotland, carries about 10 percent of Britain’s gas production. Apache acquired its stakes in the pipeline system from Exxon Mobil in 2011 in a deal that included other North Sea oil and gas assets and totalled $1.75 billion.

Ancala was joined in the deal by Danish pension fund Industriens Pension, which committed DKr 900 million ($128.6 million; €121 million) towards the investment. Neither party disclosed Industriens Pension’s stake in the project. However, it is understood that the pension fund is the largest backer of Ancala Midstream.

Industriens Pension’s infrastructure portfolio includes two offshore wind farms in Germany, UK utility Southern Water, gas transmission assets in Germany and PPP projects in Denmark and Spain. After its investment in SAGE, the asset class now accounts for about 10 percent of its portfolio, corresponding to about DKr 15 billion in total investment. The institution has indicated it wants this to increase.

“Infrastructure investment has a number of good qualities and therefore we have an objective to expand the portfolio,” said Jan Østergaard, head of unlisted investments at Industriens Pension.