- State-owned energy companies from South Africa and Mozambique have exercised their rights to buy the 30% stake in the ROMPCO natural gas pipeline.
- South Africa’s petro-chemicals giant, SASOL, originally announced in May this year that it had concluded a sale of 30% interest in Republic of Mozambique Pipeline Company (ROMPCO), to Reatile Group and the IDEAS Fund managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers. Read more
- The 865km pipeline runsfrom Mozambique to Sasol’s Secunda and Sasolburg plants in South Africa.
The deal was subject to pre-emptive rights on the shares held by existing shareholders iGAS, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Central Energy Fund, and Companhia Moçambicana de Gasoduto (CMG), a subsidiary of Mozambique’s Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos [ENH].
iGAS and CMG will now increase their stakes in ROMPCO to 40% each from their current level of 25%. Sasol, which is trying to shed assets to pay off debt, will reduce its shareholding from 50% to 20%.
The transaction will be fully funded from past and future dividends generated by the 865-kilometre pipeline, the Central Energy Fund and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) said in a joint statement.
“Having both governments as majority shareholders of the cross-border pipeline is strategic, since the pipeline is the single source of gas to the South African market,” ENH Chief Executive Estêvão Pale said.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
