BackMarguerite closed the sale of its 28.97% stake in the Latvian natural gas trading and sales company to Energy Investments SIA, a holding vehicle backed by the management team of Latvijas Gāze. Luxembourg, 24 November 2023 – Marguerite closed the sale of its 28.97% stake in AS Latvijas Gāze (“LG”), marking the successful conclusion of the staged divestment plan implemented for the business units of LG, that originally comprised transmission, distribution, storage, and supply of natural gas in Latvia.
The divestment plan started in 2020, when Marguerite sold its interest in the regulated gas transmission and storage operator AS Conexus Baltic Grid (previously being business units of LG) to Marubeni-backed MM Capital Infrastructure Fund 1.
Subsequently in July 2023, LG sold its wholly-owned subsidiary AS Gaso, the operator of the regulated gas distribution network, to Eesti Gas.
Following the disposal of the regulated assets, LG’s remaining business consists of natural gas supply via trading, import and sales activities, a stake in which Marguerite has now sold to Energy Investments SIA.
Nicolás Merigó, CEO of Marguerite, commented: “We are pleased to have supported LG over the last seven years and played a part in the development and unbundling of infrastructure assets which are critical for the security of gas supply in the region. This divestment reaffirms our strategy of actively managing high-quality infrastructure assets to deliver attractive returns to our investors”.
Marguerite originally acquired its 28.97% stake in LG, from Uniper Ruhrgas International GmbH in January 2016, becoming the second largest shareholder in LG, back when LG was a vertically integrated gas company in charge of the transmission, distribution, storage, and supply of natural gas in Latvia.
Superia and Cobalt acted as financial and legal advisers, respectively, to Marguerite.