May 2013, Vol. 240, No. 5

Projects

Financial Group Buys Czech Pipeline System

A consortium of German insurer Allianz and Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is buying Net4Gas, operator of the Czech gas pipeline system, seller RWE announced.

The deal appears to be a vote of confidence that Gazprom exports to Europe will be able to continue traveling through Ukraine indefinitely.

German utility RWE will sell the Czech gas transporter and distributor to Allianz Capital Partners – the investment unit of Europe’s largest insurer – and Borealis, OMERS’ investment arm. The concern is over the ongoing strategy by Russia to reroute exports from the main overland pipeline through Ukraine to the massive Nord Stream and the planned South Stream pipelines. That would threaten Net4Gas’ revenue stream, since the biggest portion of its sales come from moving Russian gas westward.