Swedegas to be acquired by Enagás and Fluxys

Swedegas, the owner and operator of the Swedish gas transmission grid, has been sold by EQT Infrastructure. New owners are the Spanish and Belgian gas transmission companies Enagás and Fluxys, who have made a joint acquisition of Swedegas on a 50-50% basis.

"With Enagás and Fluxys, Swedegas will have new, strategic owners with similar core operations as ours. They have extensive knowledge of the European gas market and they share our ambition to invest in smart, sustainable energy solutions", said Lars Gustafsson, CEO of Swedegas.

The acquisition is described by the consortium as strategically important, and has the potential to unlock synergies. Fluxys owns gas grids in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland and Enagás has operations in Spain and South America. Both companies have invested in LNG terminals, including terminals in Zeebrugge, Dunkirk and Altamira in Mexico.

"The Swedish gas market has major development potential. Investing in LNG infrastructure and in regional gas grids to facilitate the transition by the industrial, shipping and transport sectors from oil to gas, are areas in which we have identified significant scope for development”, said Marcelino Oreja, CEO of Enagás.

“Swedegas’ management has a strong track record and Fluxys looks forward to team up and continue the company’s success. Both Fluxys and Enagás are long-standing LNG infrastructure players and we see great opportunities for sharing knowledge with Swedegas’ highly experienced staff and developing the small-scale LNG market in Sweden,” said Walter Peeraer, CEO of Fluxys.

                                                                                                                                                                                    Strong development

Since EQT acquired the company in 2010, Swedegas has undergone a transformation with strong growth. Milestones in the company's history include the acquisition of the branch pipelines from E.ON in 2011. In 2012, the company became TSO (Transmission System Operator) for the Swedish gas market. The following year, the Swedish government appointed Swedegas as the System Balance Administrator for the gas grid. In 2013, Swedegas signed a declaration of intent – the Green Gas Commitment – together with other European grid operators, including Fluxys, to make the transition to a renewable energy system. Swedegas is also one of the initiators behind the national biogas strategy for Sweden.

According to Lars Gustafson, CEO of Swedegas, there is a substantial need to invest in the energy infrastructure throughout the whole of Europe. "The projects that we are working on in Sweden will now be put in a broader context where we can identify synergies with Enagás’ and Fluxys’ operations in other European countries".

Gothenburg, March 23, 2015

For further information, please contact

Saila Horttanainen, Vice President Corporate Communications, Swedegas, +46 70 622 76 06

Lars Gustafsson, CEO, Swedegas, +46 31-43 93 25

Fact file

Swedegas

Swedegas is an infrastructure company that invests in smart energy systems. The company owns the gas transmission grid, which extends from Dragör in Denmark to Stenungsund in Sweden. Each year, Swedegas transports energy equivalent to 10-15 TWh to distributors and directly connected customers. The gas grid supplies gas to 33 municipal areas and several companies, combined heat and power plants and vehicle fuelling stations. Swedegas is currently investing in the development of an infrastructure for biogas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Fluxys

Fluxys is a Belgium-based, fully independent gas infrastructure group. The company is a major gas transit operator and its offering combines gas transmission, gas storage and terminalling of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Active in eight countries, the company focuses on safe, efficient, sustainable operations, quality services in line with market expectations and the creation of long-term value for its shareholders.

Besides its pipeline, storage and LNG terminalling assets in Belgium (owned and operated by NYSE Euronext listed Fluxys Belgium), Fluxys’ partnerships include ownership in the Interconnector and BBL pipelines linking the UK with mainland Europe, the Dunkirk LNG terminal under construction in France, the NEL and TENP pipelines in Germany, the Transitgas pipeline in Switzerland and the TAP pipeline from Turkey to Italy, which will be constructed to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe.

Enagás                                                                                                                                                                                           

Enagás is the Technical Manager of the Spanish gas system and the main carrier of natural gas in Spain, where the company owns approximately 11,000 km of pipelines, five regasification plants and three underground storage facilities. Enagás also has operations in Mexico, Chile and Peru, and it has joined the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, linking Turkey with Italy via Greece and Albania.