New chapter in the shareholder reorganization of Naturgy. The Luxembourg-based fund CVC completed its exit from the gas company this Tuesday and will put its 13.8% stake in the company up for sale. The operation, which was communicated to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) through a statement this afternoon, will be carried out through an accelerated placement.
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In recent months, Naturgy’s shareholder base has been undergoing a deep reorganization. The company carried out a complex self-tender offer process to provide exit options to some of the shareholders who had been in the capital for the longest time. Now the Luxembourg fund follows in the footsteps of BlackRock, which already left the energy company this March.
The Luxembourg fund follows the steps of the American BlackRock, which already left the energy company this March
The package of more than 133 million Naturgy shares controlled by CVC will be put on the market with a value of close to 4 billion euros. These will go directly to the free float, the percentage of the company’s shares available for public trading on the market. Naturgy closed this Tuesday at a price of 29.94 euros per share, after rising 0.74% during the session. In fact, CVC has taken advantage of a price at highs in recent years, after accumulating a revaluation of more than 15% so far in 2026.
The operation will be carried out through a private placement of an 11.08% stake and the liquidation of another 2.72% that CVC held in derivatives. The placing entity, the investment bank Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, expects it to start immediately and not last more than one day. It is aimed at institutional investors, and the conditions – in this type of operation a discount relative to the market price is usually applied – will likely be published before the market opens tomorrow.
Criteria Caixa – investor holding of the La Caixa Foundation – is the largest shareholder of Naturgy with 28.5% of the capital. In fact, it strengthened itself by buying 2.5% just after BlackRock’s exit. The second largest shareholder is the Australian fund IFM, with 15.5% of the shares. After this was CVC, through the vehicle called Rioja Acquisition S.à r.l, with which it has today made effective its exit from the energy company chaired by Francisco Reynés. Corporación Financiera Alba – from the March family – still holds 5% of Naturgy’s shares. Until last December, this company and CVC maintained a shareholder agreement with the sum of each other’s shares.
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The Luxembourg fund and Alba entered the gas company’s capital in 2018, after buying 20% of the then Gas Natural Fenosa from Repsol for about 3.8 billion euros. Market sources estimate that CVC has maintained this investment for 8 years until it reached a “mature point.” During this time, Naturgy has driven a transformation of its business and its share price has risen. The same sources emphasize that finally this stake has not passed into the hands of a foreign investor, but rather returns to the market, “in a more democratic way.”
This exit confirms the start of a new stage in Naturgy’s shareholder base, which will also have to reformulate its board of directors. Until now, CVC had representation with three seats, those of Marta Martínez Alonso, Javier de Jaime Guijarro, and José Antonio Torre de Silva. Criteria has three directors and the IFM fund has another three.
Furthermore, with the increase in the free float, CVC’s exit also represents another boost to Naturgy’s return to the MSCI family indices, to which it already returned after completing the self-tender offer. These serve as a reference for thousands of investment funds worldwide and allow the company to be on the radar of more global institutional investors.
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