Spanish energy group puts Irish unit up for sale, five years after buying
Naturgy Energy Group, a Spanish multinational natural gas and electrical energy utilities company, put its Irish commercial gas and electricity supply unit up for sale only five years after acquiring the business – according to sources.
Known formally as Gas Natural Fenosa, Naturgy bought Vayu Energy (based in Dublin) in 2016 from Colm Kennedy, its Managing Director at the time, and Glencore, a Swiss commodities group for an undisclosed sum.
However, Naturgy Energy Group’s annual report for 2016 revealed the deal was worth €32 million.
According to company filings, Kennedy held around 45 per cent of Vayu’s shares before the takeover deal.
In 2018, Vayu was renamed to Naturgy Ireland as part of a rebranding of the wider group.
A company in Spain is managing the sale, which comes simultaneously when European wholesale gas prices increased to record highs during the summer, and electricity prices became affected too.
Multiple factors have fuelled gas price inflation, including the following:
- Rebounding economic activity after COVID-19
- Rundown in storage stocks after a cold winter
- Supply outages
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