Wintershall Dea AG has agreed to sell its 50.02% stake in WIGA Transport Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG and WIGA Verwaltungs-GmbH (together WIGA) to SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE), Berlin. A purchase price was not disclosed.
SEFE currently holds a 49.98% stake in WIGA and, upon closing of the transaction, would become the company’s sole shareholder.
WIGA is the sole shareholder of German regulated gas transmission system operators GASCADE Gastransport GmbH and NEL Gastransport GmbH. These two independent subsidiaries of WIGA operate onshore gas transmission networks in Germany with a combined length of around 4,150 km and a direct connection to five European countries.
GASCADE operates a 3,710 km pipeline network throughout Germany, while NEL operates the 441 km northern European natural gas pipeline, which runs from Greifswald westwards to Lower Saxony and can transport more than 20 billion cu m/year (bcmy) of natural gas.
European energy security, hydrogen
SEFE, in a separate release, said the deal would strengthen its role in secure and reliable energy supply in Germany and Europe and boost its hydrogen expertise. GASCADE is pursuing a goal to gradually convert its pipeline network for hydrogen transport.
"With the full acquisition of WIGA as sole shareholder, we are strategically strengthening SEFE as an independent and autonomous midstream company," said Reinhard Gorenflos, chairman of the SEFE supervisory board.
"SEFE being the sole shareholder of WIGA would ensure that GASCADE can convert the existing high-performance infrastructure to hydrogen in the future. In this way, we can help drive forward the green energy transformation," said Dr Egbert Laege, chief executive officer of SEFE. "The two WIGA subsidiaries, GASCADE and NEL, will continue to operate independently and market their capacity in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner."
Last year, Wintershall agreed to sell upstream assets to Harbour Energy PLC. The WIGA assets were not included in that deal, and at the time, Wintershall noted preparations for a separate sale of its stake in the assets (OGJ Online, Dec. 21, 2023).
The WIGA transaction is subject to merger and subsidy control approval by the European Commission and is expected to be completed in summer 2024.