OMERS buys 50% interest in Czech natural gas distributor

TORONTO—The infrastructure investment arm of the Ontario municipal employees’ pension fund has joined forces with Allianz Capital Partners to purchase the natural gas transmission and transit system operator in the Czech Republic.

Allianz, a private equity company, and Borealis Infrastructure will each own a 50 per cent stake in Net4Gas after completing the purchase from RWE AG, Borealis said.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

N4G owns and operates a network of more than 3,600 kilometres of high-pressure pipelines in the Czech domestic market which transit natural gas to markets across Europe.

“The Net4Gas investment fits very well with Borealis Infrastructure’s strategy of owning and managing high-quality, large-scale assets that generate sustainable cash flow to pay pensions,” said Borealis president and CEO Michael Rolland.

“This acquisition expands our European investment portfolio, which includes gas distribution and transportation sector investments in Associated British Ports, HS1 and Scotia Gas Networks.”

Allianz Capital CEO Rainer Husmann described Net4Gas as having an “excellent management team, workforce and high-quality operations.”

“It fits well with Allianz’s infrastructure portfolio and investment strategy as a long-term investor,” Husmann said.

Borealis Infrastructure, with offices in Toronto, London and New York, manages some $10-billion on behalf of OMERS, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, through investments in a diversified portfolio of large-scale infrastructure assets.

OMERS is one of Canada’s largest pension funds with net assets of more than $60-billion.