GS Infrastructure Partners, Goldman Sachs’ infrastructure direct investment arm, has – together with co-investors – agreed to pay €130 million for an additional 20 percent stake in Endesa Gas T&D, taking its ownership to 100 percent.
Endesa Gas T&D is the second-largest gas transmission company in Spain and also the country’s fourth-largest gas distribution company. GS Infrastructure Partners is purchasing the 20 percent interest from Endesa Group, a unit of Italian utility Enel.
Affiliates of GS Infrastructure Partners funds and co-investors had previously acquired 80 percent of Endesa Gas T&D in December 2010. The latest deal, worth approximately €130 million, sees the termination of a call option granted to Endesa Group to buy back the 80 percent stake it sold.
A statement announcing the deal added that “certain services” provided by Endesa Group to Endesa T&D were also expected to be terminated.
The statement said that, since the original acquisition in 2010, GS Infrastructure Partners had invested €141 million in the expansion of Endesa Gas T&D’s network. The plan for 2013 was to add 129 kilometres to the network and connect 15,000 new consumers.
“We believe that the gas sector has potential for development in Spain, if supported by a stable regulatory framework,” said Philippe Camu, global head of GS Infrastructure Partners, in the statement. “The growth of gas infrastructure in Spain can help sustain the recovery of the Spanish economy.”
The latest transaction is expected to close before the end of this year and – when it does – a new name for Endesa Gas T&D will be revealed.
Since investment banking giant Goldman Sachs launched its infrastructure business in 2006, it has raised over $10 billion for investment in the asset class. GS Infrastructure Partners focuses on the transportation and utilities sectors.
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