Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) has approached CriteriaCaixa, the largest shareholder of Spain’s Naturgy Energy Group SA, to revive discussions about acquiring a stake in the utility, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
TAQA’s chairman and UAE Minister of Investment, Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, travelled to Spain to meet with a CriteriaCaixa executive regarding the potential deal.
CriteriaCaixa, which holds a 26.7% stake in Naturgy, is open to negotiations provided that TAQA does not seek a majority stake and that the transaction does not create diplomatic issues with Algeria, where Naturgy has significant operations.
Previous discussions between TAQA and CriteriaCaixa in 2024 did not result in an agreement.
Naturgy’s shareholder structure includes private equity firms CVC Capital Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners, each holding approximately 20%, and Australian fund IFM Investors with around 15%. Algerian state-owned Sonatrach also holds a 4.1% stake.
Naturgy operates two pipelines transporting gas from Algeria to Spain. In early 2024, Algeria indicated it would halt gas deliveries to Naturgy if the company sold shares to another entity.
As of now, Naturgy and CriteriaCaixa have declined to comment, and TAQA has not responded to requests for comment.
