French energy company Total proposed the acquisition of a 74.33 percent share of French international electric utility company Direct Energie for approximately €1.4 billion to accelerate its ambitions in gas and electricity in France and Belgium, Total said in a statement on Wednesday.
'Through this transaction, Total is actively pursuing its development in electricity and gas generation and distribution in France and Belgium,' Patrick Pouyanne, chairman and CEO of Total was quoted as saying.
'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,' he added.
The French company has a 1.5 million-client portfolio in the field of natural gas and electricity distribution while Direct Energie has a 2.6 million-client portfolio. If the acquisition goes ahead, the company aims to have over 6 million customers in France and more than 1 million customers in Belgium by 2022.
Direct Energie's installed capacity of 1.35 gigawatts of power, which includes 800 megawatts from gas-fired power plants and 550 megawatts of renewable electricity, will supplement Total's 900 megawatts of installed capacity.
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr