ENGIE and Société d’Infrastructures Gazières (SIG), a CNP Assurances and Caisse des Dépôts investment vehicle, have completed the acquisition of an 11.5 percent stake in GRTgaz by SIG for €1.1 billion.
With this transaction, SIG, a 25 percent shareholder in GRTgaz since 2011, now owns about 39 percent of the company, with ENGIE holding the remaining 61 percent. This transaction includes SIG selling 17.8% of Elengy in exchange for new GRTgaz shares, simplifying GRTgaz’s shareholding structure, which now owns 100% of Elengy.
The closing of this transaction represents another step forward for ENGIE in the implementation of its strategic plan, which aims to rebalance its exposure from French gas networks to renewables and other infrastructure assets while fully consolidating GRTgaz.
The strategic priorities of Caisse des Dépôts and CNP Assurances include the presence in the capital of major national infrastructures and support in their adaptation to the challenges of the energy transition. This new investment in GRTgaz is entirely consistent with this mission and reaffirms the Caisse des Dépôts group’s close partnership with ENGIE in this field.
For Catherine MacGregor, CEO of ENGIE: “We are pleased with the completion of this transaction, which represents another milestone in the execution of our strategic plan and strengthens a partnership of more than ten years with Caisse des Dépôts and CNP Assurances within GRTgaz. With this transaction, we are reaffirming our common vision of the value and the key role that gas, which will gradually decarbonize, plays in enabling an affordable and resilient energy transition.”
Eric Lombard, CEO of Caisse des Dépôts declared: “Thanks to this investment in GRTgaz, Caisse des Dépôts group reinforces its support for the development of a carbon-neutral gas mix, fully in line with the objectives of the Paris agreement. We are pleased by this transaction to further strengthen our ties with ENGIE in the sector of infrastructures essential to the energy transition, alongside other key partnerships such as CNR, the largest producer of hydroelectric energy in the country, or FEIH/FEIH2, the largest wind and solar platform in France.”
Stéphane Dedeyan, CEO of CNP Assurances, adds: “For CNP Assurances, this transaction marks the strengthening of a highly strategic partnership with ENGIE and alongside Caisse des Dépôts. Both suited to the profile expected by our policyholders and to the national challenges of the energy mix transition, this investment in GRTgaz also represents an opportunity to intensify efforts in favor of renewable gases and to participate in the development of green hydrogen over the next decades.”
