Gazprom sell its share in Verbundnetz Gas
Gazprom, following its strategic partner Wintershall, has decided to withdraw from the capital of the German gas importer Verbundnetz Gas. The package price could reach about 200 million euro, and the most likely buyer is German company EWE, which has already collected about 64% of the company. Previously Gazprom actively bought stakes in European gas companies, but now its strategy changed: the monopoly is no longer going to work with end consumers in the EU. However, for a while, Gazprom doesn’t report about withdrawal from other assets in Germany.
Gazprom has put up for sale its 10.52% in the German gas distributor Verbundnetz Gas (VNG, the monopoly owns the stake through Gazprom Germania), the monopoly reported yesterday. There are several contenders for the package, the Tass reported yesterday and it was confirmed by the Kommersant’s sources, who explained that the most likely buyer was the largest shareholder of VNG - German EWE. At the end of October, the company closed a deal to buy 15.79% stake in VNG from one of the main partners of Gazprom - the German company Wintershall for 320 million euro. After that, the share of EWE in VNG increased from 47.9% to control one - 63.69%. Then the market noted that Gazprom, lost the influence on the asset after the withdrawal of the partner, might also sell its stake. Based on the price of the Wintershall’s transaction, 10.5% of VNG can cost about 210 million euro.