Enagás Internacional, through its subsidiary Enagás Chile, and OMERS Infrastructure, have reached an agreement to jointly sell their respective shareholdings in Chile’s GNL Quintero S.A., which together represent an 80% ownership, to the consortium formed by EIG and Fluxys.
OMERS Infrastructure will be selling 100% of OMERS Infrastructure Chile Holdings I SpA, which owns a 34.6% stake in GNLQ.
This deal is part of the asset rotation process announced by Enagás in its Strategic Plan.
Enagás has agreed to sell its 45.4% shareholding in GNL Quintero S.A. for USD 661 million, approximately €601 million at the current exchange rate.
This operation is subject to approval by the anti-trust authorities and other conditions specific to this type of deal. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.
GNL Quintero is a Chilean company that owns a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) reception, unloading, storage and regasification terminal in the Valparaíso Region of Chile, that plays a critical role in securing a reliable supply of natural gas for the country´s central region, where most of the population lives.
Since its initial investment in 2012, Enagás has contributed its extensive experience as an industrial partner sharing the highest operational, maintenance and sustainability standards with GNL Quintero, and promoting, together with management and its partners, the development of the terminal to position GNL Quintero as a strategic asset for the country´s energy transition.
Chile is well-positioned to be a global leader in the production and export of green hydrogen and Enagás will continue to contribute to the decarbonisation process with renewable gas projects in this country. Along these lines, the company is promoting the “Green Hydrogen Bahía Quintero” project, together with Acciona and GNL Quintero which has been selected to receive USD5.7 million financing from the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO), equivalent to approximately 5.1 million euros at the current exchange rate.
This project, which would have a nominal capacity of 10 MW, seeks to offer an alternative source of energy that is clean and sustainable, while contributing to the country’s decarbonisation and the environmental development of the communes of Puchuncaví and Quintero, in the Valparaíso Region.
The advisors to the transaction were, on the buyer’s side, Citi (financial) and White & Case (legal). Credit-Suisse (financial) and Milbank (legal) acted for Omers and Rothschild (financial) and Baker McKenzie (legal) for Enagás.
Baker McKenzie advised Enagás with a team involving partner chair of the firm’s Energy, Mining & Infrastructure practice group Jose Morán, partner and head of the Public Law, Infrastructure and Energy department at Baker McKenzie in Madrid Antonio Morales and Corporate/M6A partner Juanjo Corral, together with Dallas partner Jonathan Farrokhnia and Chicago associate Carlos Suárez.
Milbank advised OMERS with partner Dean Sattler, along with associates Ross Shepard and Cristina Sonageri.
White & Case acted for the buyers with partner Bill Parish, alongside associate Hannah Craft.
