MADRID, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Spain’s Criteria has bought a 2% stake in energy firm Naturgy for around 485 million euros ($568 million), lifting its holding to 25.986%, a spokesperson for Criteria said on Wednesday following a filing to market supervisor CNMV.
The Spanish company, which remains the largest shareholder in Naturgy, snapped up this stake after partially taking part in an accelerated bookbuild placement of a 7.1% stake in Naturgy last week, managed by JP Morgan on behalf of BlackRock for 1.7 billion euros, or 24.75 euros per share.
At that share price, the around 19.6 million shares Criteria bought are worth 485.1 million euros.
BlackRock became a shareholder in Naturgy through its 2024 acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which had previously invested in the utility.
Following last-week’s placement, BlackRock is now Naturgy’s fourth-biggest investor with a 12.626% stake, according to the supervisor. Private equity company CVC holds 18.6% and Australian fund IFM has a 15.2% stake.
($1 = 0.8532 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado and Gemma Guasch; editing by David Latona)
