Romania's Transgaz out of competition to buy Greece’s gas grid operator

The joint venture of Romanian company Transgaz and French firm GRTgaz, which were on the short list to buy a 66% stake in Greece’s natural gas grid operator DESFA, were disqualified from the tender. The shareholder structure of the two groups is not completely separate, as required by a European directive, according to the Greek publication Kathimerini. “The rating consultants employed by TAIPED rejected the offer report submitted by the French-Romanian joint venture to acquire DESFA in the first phase of the auction,” Kathimerini wrote based on sources familiar with the deal. TAIPED is the Greek privatization agency. Six companies have expressed an interest in acquiring a 66% stake in DESFA, according to TAIPED. The deal’s value is estimated at EUR 400 million. Greece is seeking a buyer for the grid operator under a privatization scheme agreed with international lenders. Greek authorities relaunched the privatization process for DESFA after a deal with Azerbaijan’s SOCAR fell through in 2016, according to Reuters. The authorities in Athens want to get EUR 2 billion from privatizations this year and EUR 3.5 billion in 2018. Romanian Transgaz files intent letter in Greek gas distribution network privatization editor@romania-insider.com