EQT acquires Swedish gas transmission network operator Swedegas

The investment is the third made by the EQT Infrastructure fund, and the first investment in Sweden for the firm.

Swedegas owns and operates the largest portion of Sweden’s gas transmission network, a 390km stretch located in southern and western Sweden. The region is an especially lucrative one, with 20 per cent of its energy use coming from gas as opposed to around two per cent for the rest of the country. Swedegas’ revenues for 2008 were SEK218m (€20.9m).

The company transports gas in its network from Dragør, the only interconnection between Sweden and Denmark, as well as the extended European gas transmission network. The infrastructure could also be key for Sweden’s growing biogas sector.

Stefan Glevén, director, EQT Partners, said, “We are thrilled to make this investment, which fits very well with the fund’s investment strategy. In addition to promoting the stability and development of the gas market including existing customer relationships, we see interesting potential in supporting industries to replace oil with gas as fuel and also in meeting the increasing demand for vehicle gas. Transporting biogas is another promising opportunity.”

EQT recently took an 82 per cent stake in Springer Science+Business Media after months of bidding by rival parties. The remaining stake was taken up by GIC Special Investments, an arm of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

Copyright © 2009 AltAssets