ROME (Reuters) -Italian gas grid group Snam’s acquisition of a stake in Germany’s largest independent gas transmission operator Open Grid Europe will not be finalised by end-September as scheduled, financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday.
Snam signed a deal in April to buy a stake in OGE’s owner Vier Gas Holding from Abu Dhabi’s Infinity Investments for an equity value of 920 million euros ($1.08 billion), marking the group’s entry into the German gas market, Europe’s largest by volume.
The agreement, signed by former CEO Stefano Venier and expected to close in the third quarter of the year, is now being reviewed by new CEO Agostino Scornajenchi and the company’s shareholders, the report said.
“(It is) hard to say where these assessments will lead,” the financial daily reported, without citing sources.
Snam declined to comment.
The report added that concerns raised by the German government over a share held by China’s state grid in CDP Reti, which owns just over 30% of Snam, are also weighing on the decision.
The German economy ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
($1 = 0.8523 euros)
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in Berlin; Editing by Jan Harvey)
