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(Reuters) – BlackRock has sold a 7.1% stake in Spanish gas utility Naturgy for around 1.7 billion euros ($1.99 billion) through an accelerated bookbuild placement managed by JPMorgan, the firm said on Thursday.
The transaction leaves BlackRock with around a 11.42% stake in Naturgy after completing the accelerated placement of 68,825,911 shares at a price of 24.75 euros per share.
That represents a discount of around 5.4% to Wednesday’s closing price of 26.16 euros per share. At 09:21 a.m. (0821 GMT), Naturgy shares were down 5% at 24.86 euros, the worst performers on Spain’s Ibex-35 blue-chip index.
BlackRock became a shareholder in Naturgy through its 2024 acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which had previously invested in the utility.
After selling the stake, BlackRock will be the company’s fourth-largest shareholder, after Spanish holding company Criteria, which holds an almost 24% stake. Private equity company CVC holds 18.6% and Australian fund IFM has a 15.2% stake.
“The transaction closes the door to the possible entry of a new shareholder into the company and paves the way for CVC’s future exit,” Sabadell said in a note to clients.
The transaction, which is expected to increase Naturgy’s free float toward its target of around 25%, follows a period of strong performance for the company, which has reported record earnings of around 2 billion euros annually over the past two years.
The company has benefited from increased output from its combined-cycle plants, which have operated more hours since an April 28 grid outage, enhancing supply security and helping avoid widespread disconnections.
($1 = 0.8555 euros)
Reporting by Jesus Calero and Emma Pinedo. Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter
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