FT: Spain’s Gas Natural to buy Chilean power group CGE

Gas Natural, the Spanish energy group, has launched a €2.6bn takeover bid for Compañía General de Electricidad (CGE), the Chilean power company.

The offer was unveiled in a regulatory filing on Sunday. CGE is one of the biggest energy groups in Chile, with 2.57m customers and 40 per cent of the market in electricity distribution.

The deal is part of a longer-term effort by Gas Natural to expand its operations in Latin America, where energy demand is growing faster than in the Barcelona-based group’s home market and the rest of Europe.

The offer also comes as fresh proof of the broader rise in confidence among Spanish business leaders, who are once again seeking international expansion after years of crisis and retrenchment.
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