The deal was first announced in March 2021 and forms part of National Grid’s shift towards investing more into its electricity business following last year’s acquisition of Western Power Distribution (WPD). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gave the green light for the £7.8bn takeover of WPD in September after an investigation over the deal’s potential impact on the market.
Once the sale of its gas business has gone through, National Grid will receive approximately £2.2bn in cash and will continue to own a 40 per cent minority equity interest. It will also receive approximately £2bn from additional debt financing at completion.
Like the WPD purchase, completion of the sale will be subject to certain antitrust and regulatory conditions, but National Grid said it expects the transaction to be completed by the second half of 2022.
It added that the deal will help “significantly” enhance National Grid’s role in the delivery of the UK’s net zero...