The government is considering asking Taqa to hand over up to 10% of Naturgy’s capital as a condition for approving its takeover bid for the Spanish company. Sources consulted by elEconomista.es assure that the executive branch is considering the use of a national security card to facilitate the possible landing of a gas company in the capital.
The option that the executive branch is considering is link the permits needed to accept the offer to an agreement that will facilitate the state’s entry in the company as a way to guarantee its Spanish ownership in the case of an option Taka can exceed 50% of the capital.
The Emirati group can acquire up to 54 percent of Naturgy through a takeover offer announced at one hundred percent of the capital, including the share of the CVC and GIP funds, as well as the 13 percent that is publicly listed on the stock market. If Australian fund IFM, which owns 15 percent of the shares, goes ahead with the takeover, the percentage will rise to almost 70 percent. To this should be added 4.1% interest in the hands of the Algerian company Sonatrach.
In total, the stake in the hands of non-EU shareholders, even if none of the small shareholders agrees to a takeover bid, will far exceed 50 percent of the capital. The capital associated with the Arab world alone is likely to exceed the majority of Naturgy’s capital. For this reason, the internal approach is to enter the gas company with a percentage similar to that of Telefónica, although there is still no official decision on this matter. The goal will be to guarantee their Spanishness and control their strategic decisions.
Official government sources consulted by the newspaper categorically deny the existence of such an approach.
The Ministry of National Security, which reports directly to Pedro Sánchez, highlighted the growing proximity of Russia and China to the United Arab Emirates, while highlighting the strong interest of foreign companies in strategic Spanish companies such as Naturgy.
The government is even considering delisting the stock market. This would avoid a subsequent offering to provide liquidity to the security if the transaction was attractive to the 13% still held by funds and individuals, and would leave the security without liquidity. One of the disadvantages now is the prices at which the capital injection operation can be carried out, since the government does not want to pay any additional premium to the market value of the shares.
Moreover, a formal approach will serve to satisfy Add to this again that a higher level of intervention is required in large companies.. Iñigo Errejon, the party’s representative in Congress, demanded that the executive branch veto the takeover bid for the Emirati group and directly enter into the energy company in the same way as with Telefónica. Negotiations between the funds and Taqa did not go down well with the group’s minority partner. government because it sees them as a “threat” to Spain’s strategic interests. “This represents threat to strategic interests
our country, for the sake of our sovereignty and national security,” Errejon said. According to leader Mas Pais, companies such as Naturgy or Telefonica are strategic for Spain’s interests in communications, transport or energy, so they “cannot be sold to funds of dubious origin and cannot be subject to financial whims.” Not only that, but Errejon believes that “they also”There must be the presence of a state guaranteeing national interests and security.“If Taqa finally comes forward with a proposal to acquire the shares of the CVC and GIP funds in Naturgy, the government will have to approve the operation, as happened with the appearance of the Saudi STC in the capital Telefónica and as described yesterday about the operation for the first time by the Minister of Economy Carlos Bodi, who also did not rule out option of entering the capital of the company. . that it is still “premature” to consider a possible government entry into the capital of Naturgy, given the possibility of Taka making a takeover bid.
Ribera, at a press conference in Murcia, together with the president of this autonomous community, Fernando López Miras, noted that “in the field of energy, it is especially important that there is stability and that the result of any operation that is marked. The functioning of the market guarantees that an important company like this the main gas company that operates in the Spanish market with a regulated activity of the first scale will not have any problems. In any case, he assured that “for now We are waiting for information about the operation and about the negotiations carried out by the various companies and funds involved. After that, as he noted, “we will have to see whether government participation in this company makes sense.”
The president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Antonio Garamendi, considered that Spain’s strategic security “is not in any danger” from the possible infiltration of the capital of an investor from the United Arab Emirates, such as Taqa, in the capital of the energy company Naturgy, and placed it in “normal” movements in shares of “private companies”.
In statements to the press, Garamendi said that “neither the company nor its strategic plan would ever be at risk” as a result of the possible operation. “I think it’s the other way around because perhaps all of this further strengthens Naturgy’s commitment to its growth and ambition to become an energy leader in Spain,” he said.