Criteria Caixa, the investment holding company of Fundación La Caixa, has made public that it is in preliminary talks with a “potential investment group” that is cutting off some other reference shareholders of Naturgy for the purchase of its shares, according to a statement from the firm directed by Ángel Simón at the request of the CNMV due to the rise in the stock market recorded by the Spanish company.
These conversations are aimed at reaching a “partners’ agreement” with Criteria, which owns 26.7% of the company’s capital, to protect Naturgy’s shareholding after the recent turbulence derived from the exit plans of some of the company’s shareholders. gasman as published this Tuesday by ‘La Información’. In its statement, the La Caixa holding company reaffirms its commitment to remain in the energy sector and its long-term vocation.
In the spotlight of this fund, from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as public ‘La Información’, is the 20.7% stake of Rioja Bidco, the consortium formed by CVC Capital Partners in alliance with the family March (Corporación Alba), although it would also be exploring 20.6% of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), the fund led by Adebayo Ongulesi, which is in the process of integration within the giant BlackRock.
The entity has clarified that these conversations are in a preliminary stage, so it is impossible to predict the final result. CriteriaCaixa has registered with the CNMV that it does not participate in the negotiations with other Naturgy shareholders and that, if an agreement is reached, it will be communicated publicly.
CVC and GIP, in capital gains; IFM, in the red
The heat that Naturgy’s price is registering this Tuesday allows CVC-March and GIP to once again increase the cushion of latent capital gains on their shares, after the gas company’s stock market crisis at the start of 2024 took them close to their pre purchase price in the company around 19 euros per share in both cases, as this newspaper published a month ago. IFM, which launched a takeover bid in 2021 and then bought its shares on the market, is still in the red and the reference price of its 15% stake in capital is still around 23 euros per share.
