Romanian state-owned gas transporter Transgaz and French GRTgaz have submitted a letter of intent to acquire 66% of the shares of Greek group DESFA. The Greek company is being privatized by the Hellenic Republic's Fund for the Development of Assets (HRADF).

The sale of the majority stake in DESFA is part of the measures agreed by the Athens authorities with the European Commission and international financial institutions as part of the program for the recovery of the Greek economy.

The DESFA privatization was re-launched after a deal with Azerbaijan's SOCAR was canceled in 2016. That deal collapsed after the passing of legislation that raised DESFA's gas tariffs by a lower amount than SOCAR had expected, Reuters reported.

The other companies submitting letters of interest in the privatization were Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Europe) Limited, a consortium made up of Italian Snam S.p.A., Madrid-based Enagás Internacional S.L.U., Belgium-based Fluxys S.A. and Dutch N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, Spanish Regasificadora del Noroeste S.A, USA-based Integrated Utility Services Inc. (INTUS) and Qatar-based Powerglobe LLC.

DESFA owns the gas distribution system and operates the only liquefied gas terminal in Greece, located in Athens. Last year, it had sales of over EUR 170 million and a net profit of over EUR 34 million.

Transgaz is the technical operator of the national gas distribution network in Romania. It is controlled by the state via the Economy Ministry, which holds a stake of 58.5%.

Transgaz is also involved in the EU-backed BRUA project, a new pipeline that would connect Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Austria and would take the gas extracted from the Black Sea to Western Europe.

Romanian Transgaz interested to acquire Greek gas distribution network

editor@romania-insider.com