Spanish holding company Criteria has announced the end of discussions with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) regarding a possible joint bid to acquire Naturgy, Spain’s leading gas company. This decision marks an important turning point in the Spanish energy landscape, where mergers and acquisitions are frequent but rarely successful.
Criteria, which owns 26.7% of Naturgy, stated that no agreement had been reached with TAQA. According to El Mundo newspaper, TAQA has decided to withdraw from the joint bid, citing sources close to the discussions.
Criteria strategy and future commitments
Following the negotiations, Criteria reaffirmed its commitment as a long-term investor in Naturgy’s industrial project. The company is now exploring new options to support Naturgy’s transformation plan, signaling a willingness to continue playing a key role in the company’s evolution.
Naturgy, for its part, declined to comment on the situation, and TAQA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Naturgy’s main shareholders, private equity funds CVC and GIP, each owning more than 20%, also declined to comment on the abandonment of the offer.
Implications for the European gas market
TAQA initially saw this acquisition as a major strategic opportunity. In addition to the Spanish assets, the deal would have included supply contracts with Algeria and a long-term contract to import 3 billion cubic meters of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) each year. With Naturgy’s market value reaching 24.3 billion euros, this would have been one of the largest takeovers by a sovereign wealth fund.
This failure underlines the complexity of major M&A operations in the energy sector, particularly when diverse and international interests are at stake. Market players are keeping a close eye on TAQA’s and Criteria’s next strategic moves, in anticipation of future developments that could redefine the European energy landscape.
