France's second-largest energy utility, GdF Suez SA, is looking around the world for deals. The company, formed earlier this year by the merger of French state-controlled Gaz de France SA and Suez SA, opened its wallet Friday acquiring a 30% stake worth $765 million in Singapore's biggest utility and announced talks to buy €1.08 billion ($1.5 billion) of offshore assets in the North Sea.
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A consortium led by the Paris-based utility and Japan's Marubeni Corp. will pay S$3.65 billion ($2.55 billion) for Singapore's Senoko Power Ltd., which is owned by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.
Gdf Suez and Marubeni will each take a 30% stake in Senoko, which supplies about 30% of Singapore's energy.
Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co., will buy 15% stakes while Japan Bank for International Cooperation will take a 10% stake. Temasek put the utility on the block in July along with two other energy utility holdings to introduce competition to the energy sector.
In a separate announcement, GdF Suez said it was in exclusive talks with Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV, or NAM, for a package of assets principally consisting of the rights to prospect, produce and transport oil and gas in the Dutch region of the North Sea. NAM is owned by Royal Dutch Shell plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. -- Paul Whitfield
See TheDeal.com: GdF Suez, Marubeni invest in Singapore (subscription required)
