Today, after receiving authorisation from the Italian Antitrust Authority (Autorità Nazionale Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato), 2i Rete Gas SpA, a leading natural gas distributor in Italy serving approximately 4 million customers across a network of over 58,000 km and approximately 2,000 concessions, finalised the agreement originally entered into with Gas Natural Fenosa on 13 October 2017 to acquire 100% of Nedgia SpA, a gas distribution company, and Gas Natural Italia, a gas services firm.
With this transaction, 2i Rete Gas acquires an additional 460 thousand customers across a distribution network of more than 7,300 km and a further 223 concessions, bolstering its presence in Central and Southern Italy as well as increasing the number of minimum territorial areas (Ambiti Territoriali Minimi, or ATEM, in Italian) it operates in across the country. This will allow it to participate in more tenders and achieve significant synergies as well as economies of scale and density while fully utilizing the resources of the target companies.
2i Rete Gas thus continues pursuing its growth strategy, which consists in integrating existing assets (it has acquired and integrated the distribution networks of Enel, the German group EON, and the French group Engie) as it seeks to guarantee increasingly higher service quality and safety standards, a high level of technological innovation, and cost-effective operations.
The company fully funded the acquisition, with an Enterprise Value of 727 million euro, with the proceeds of a bond issue launched between the end of October and early November 2017 named “€3,500,000,000 Euro Medium Term Notes”.
After the closing, 2i Rete Gas CEO Michele De Censi commented: “With this acquisition, 2i Rete Gas has reaffirmed its role as an aggregator in Italy’s natural gas distribution industry. The aim is to ensure a high-quality service and the highest safety standards as well as cost-effective operations by using ground-breaking solutions made available by technological innovation.”