Thyssengas Takeover Gets EU Thumbs-Up

The European Commission said September 14 it has approved the planned joint takeover of Thyssengas by France’s EDF and Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF). The acquisition, from Australia’s Macquarie, was first announced in mid-June.

Power giant EDF is also active in gas transmission, noted the EC, but said the takeover poses no competition problems given the lack of horizontal or vertical overlaps with EDF or DIF’s existing assets. EDF has a 18% stake in southwest France gas grid TIGF.

The CEO of Thyssengas, a 4,200-km gas grid in the west German industrial heartland of North Rhine Westphalia, said in a press interview last week that his business wanted to work with Gazprom to make the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project more viable. The company says it needs to plan for declining Dutch gas deliveries to its region by building links to enable more Russian gas to flow to industry and power plants in the Rhine-Ruhr region. 

Russia is already Germany's largest gas supplier at 37%, followed by Netherlands, Norway and indigenous German supplies (Photo credit: Thyssengas)

The EC also last week cleared the proposed takeover of UK-based Morrison Utility Services Group by Cayman Islands-registered private equity fund, First Reserve Corporation. Morrison is a leading installer of gas and water mains on behalf of utilities in Britain and elsewhere.

Mark Smedley