French integrated oil and gas company Total has acquired 73.04% stake in energy utility firm Direct Energie for approximately €1.4bn.
Image: Total acquires stake in Direct Energie. Photo: Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash.
As per the deal signed in April 2018, Total has acquired the stake in Direct Energie from its controlling shareholders at a price of €42 a share and an ex-dividend of €0.35 a share.
Direct Energie is engaged in providing electricity and gas to more than 2.6 million residential and non-residential customers in France and Belgium.
The firm has an installed capacity of 1.35GW, which includes 800MW of gas-fired power and 550MW of renewable electricity.
Total said that it has also filed a mandatory tender offer for the shares in Direct Energie which are not held by the firm, at the price of €42 per share.
Direct Énergie chairman and CEO Xavier Caïtucoli said: “The Board of Directors unanimously recommends to Direct Energie’s shareholders to tender their shares. This operation is indeed extremely positive for Direct Energie, its teams and clients.”
Total chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said: “This operation allows us to accelerate our integration downstream along the full gas and power value chain and to reach critical mass in the French and Belgium markets where we are growing fast.”
The acquisition adds Direct Energie’s 2.6 million client portfolio to Total’s 1.5 million client portfolio.
Total earlier said that the acquisition will contribute to its aim to become a standard-setting player in power supply in France and Belgium. It is targeting over 6 million customers in France and more than one million in Belgium by 2022.
Pouyanné earlier said: “This friendly takeover is part of the Group’s strategy to expand along the entire gas-electricity value chain and to develop low-carbon energies, in line with our ambition to become the responsible energy major.”
Over the next five years, Total aims to have at least 10GW of installed capacity, either in the form of gas-fired power plants or renewable electricity capacities.