Goldman’s Spanish gas firm in €136m deal

Redexis Gas, the Spanish natural gas transmission and distribution business, has made acquisitions worth €136 million – bringing its total spending on investments this year to more than €450 million.

The company, owned by Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners (GSIP), has bought 53,760 piped Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) connection points and a 213-kilometre gas distribution network from Repsol, the Spanish energy firm. The agreement is pending completion of due diligence and regulatory approvals.

The latest acquisitions mean Redexis will supply over 600,000 connection points in 2016 throughout Spain and manage a gas distribution network spanning over 8,700km.

The business covers 551 municipalities in the country in 26 provinces in Aragon, the Balearics, Andalusia, Castilla y Leon, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, Madrid, Murcia, Catalonia and Extremadura.

Redexis is also currently completing the Cas Tresorer – Manacor – Felanitx gas pipeline, which will provide 70,000 people with access to natural gas, spans 58.5km and involves an additional estimated investment of €22 million.

In December 2010, GS Infrastructure Partners’ second fund – GSIP II – acquired 80 percent of Redexis Gas (then known as Endesa Gas T&D) alongside co-investors.

Almost three years later, in November 2013, the same investors bought the remaining 20 percent in a deal valued at €130 million. The vendor is both cases was Endesa Group, a unit of Italian utility Enel.

When the 20 percent purchase was announced, it was revealed that GS Infrastructure Partners had invested €141 million in the expansion of Redexis’ network since the original 80 percent acquisition.

In April this year, Redexis issued €650 million of bonds and agreed €300 million of new banking facilities in a €950 million refinancing.

Since investment bank Goldman Sachs launched GS Infrastructure Partners in 2006, it has raised over $10 billion for investment in the asset class. It focuses on the transportation and utilities sectors.