BlackRock sells 7% stake in Naturgy for $2B
BlackRock has sold a 7.1% stake in Spanish gas utility Naturgy for about €1.7 billion ($1.99 billion) through an accelerated bookbuild managed by JPMorgan. After the sale, BlackRock retains an 11.42% stake in the company, selling 68.8 million shares at €24.75 each, a 5.4% discount to the previous close.
The sale makes BlackRock Naturgy’s fourth-largest shareholder, behind Criteria (24%), CVC (18.6%), and Australian fund IFM (15.2%). Analysts note the move may pave the way for CVC’s eventual exit and increase Naturgy’s free float toward a 25% target, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Naturgy has seen record earnings of around €2 billion annually over the past two years, benefiting from increased output at its combined-cycle plants and improved supply security since a grid outage in April.
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