Elering Closed the Deal of Purchasing the Gas Transmission System Network

On Friday, Elering AS closed the deal of purchasing majority stake of the AS Võrguteenus Valdus controlling the gas transmission system network.

Since January 1 2015, a new statute of Võrguteenus Valdus came into force allowing the majority shareholder complying with the requirements set out in the Natural Gas Act to acquire operational control over the company. Considering the coming into force of the new statute as well as fulfilment of the conditions precedent fixed in the shares’ purchase agreement of November 10, 2014, Elering AS and Fortum Heat and Gas OY completed the purchase-sale transaction of 51.38 per cent of shares of AS Võrguteenus Valdus. Other shareholders of Võrguteenus Valdus capable of complying with the conditions of the Natural Gas Act have the possibility of implementing their pre-emption right of the shares which belonged to Fortum, until January 14, 2015.

According to Elering’s CEO Taavi Veskimägi, Elering’s ultimate goal is to become the sole shareholder of Võrguteenus Valdus and thereby also of the gas transmission system. Elering has made offers to buy the shares of other major shareholders of Võrguteenus Valdus based on the same price model as used in the recent transaction with Fortum.

On January 14, an extraordinary general meeting of Võrguteenus Valdus’ shareholders will be held, where a new Supervisory Board will be elected. Thereby Elering will acquire operational control over the gas transmission system. As the owner, Elering wishes to make a request to the Estonian Competition Authority at the earliest possibility of issuing an preliminary activity licence for EG Võrguteenus AS to provide the service of gas transmission.

Elering paid Fortum Heat and Gas OY 27.5 million euros for 51,38 per cent of Võrguteenus Valdus’ shares. Prior to closing the transaction, Elering received the merger approval from the Estonian Competition Authority. In addition, the Estonian Ministry of the Interior confirmed Elering’s compliance with the conditions required from the gas transmission system operator according to the Natural Gas Act.

The gas transmission network operated by the subsidiary of Võrguteenus Valdus, EG Võrguteenus is approximately 900 km long. The gas transmission volume in 2014 was estimated at 530 million m3. EG Võrguteenus has 80 employees.