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E.ON sells Open Grid Europe to consortium of long-term infrastructure investors

Parties agree on a purchase price of €3.2 billion
OGE has been an independent gas transmission operator since 2010

E.ON AG of Düsseldorf has sold Open Grid Europe, its gas transmission company in Germany, to a consortium consisting of Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 4, Infinity Investments, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, and MEAG MUNICH ERGO Asset Management. The parties signed contracts for the sale today. The agreed consideration is about €2.9 billion which, including adjustments for pensions and other assets, will result in a purchase price at closing of about €3.2 billion. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012, requires the approval of the German Federal Cartel Office and, pursuant to the Foreign Trade and Payments Act, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Essen-based Open Grid Europe operates Germany’s largest gas transmission system (roughly 12,000 kilometers in length) and is a key European hub for bulk gas shipments from Russia and Norway. It was formerly the gas transmission division of E.ON Ruhrgas. To comply with EU requirements, Open Grid Europe was fully unbundled from its parent company in 2010 and set up as an independent transmission operator.
The sale of Open Grid Europe brings E.ON closer to its goal of generating roughly €15 billion through divestments by the end of 2013. E.ON has already recorded divestment proceeds totaling more than €12 billion. E.ON will use the money to reduce its debt and invest in growth businesses.