The Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (GSPC) alongwith its affiliates (of GSPC Group) on Wednesday announced it would acquire a majority stake in Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL).
GSPC signed definitive agreements for the acquisition of 65.12% stake in GGCL from BG Group (BG).
BG’s shareholding would be acquired by Gujarat Distribution Networks Ltd. (GDNL) a fully owned company of GSPC Group. The acquisition is being made at Rs 295 per share and GDNL will pay Rs 2,463.8 crore to BG for the acquisition, a statement issued by GSPC said.
The acquisition is subject to the customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close pursuant to completion of open offer as per SEBI Takeover Code and the approval of the Competition Commission of India and Reserve Bank of India, the statement added.
"We are pleased to announce this acquisition that enhances GSPC group’s presence in the state of Gujarat. The acquisition is in the long term interests of the industrial and retail customers of Gujarat," Tapan Ray, MD, GSPC Group said in the statement.
The acquisition bears a significant strategic importance and will add significant customer base to GSPC’s existing business in Gujarat. In addition the acquisition is consistent with the stated strategic objective of expanding its presence in upstream and downstream segments of the energy value chain and realising the vision of developing Gujarat as natural gas driven economy, the statement said.
GSPC Group is one of the leading oil and gas exploration, development and production companies in India and is also one of the largest gas trading companies of the country. The Group has a significant presence in the gas transmission and gas distribution businesses. Government of Gujarat along with its public sector undertakings are majority shareholders in the Group.
