* Macquarie to sell Thyssengas to DIF, EDF -sources
* Buyers to pay around 700 million euros -sources
(Adds background on buyers)
By Arno Schuetze and Freya Berry
FRANKFURT/LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Dutch infrastructure
fund DIF and French utility EDF EDF.PA have agreed to buy
German gas grid Thyssengas from Macquarie MGX.AX for some 700
million euros ($730 million), two people familiar with the
matter said.
Power and gas grids are among the most sought-after
infrastructure assets, giving investors stable returns on their
investments of up to 9 percent at a time when interest rates in
Europe have fallen to zero.
DIF and EDF Invest are paying roughly 1.5 times the book
value of Thyssengas' regulated asset base, the people said on
Wednesday, a premium to other recent grid deals in Germany which
could limit their returns on the deal, one of the sources said.
Macquarie declined to comment, while DIF and EDF were not
available for comment.
DIF is an infrastructure investor managing about 3.3 billion
euros in funds. Its assets span roads, hospitals, solar power
and trains with the bulk of its investments being below 50
million euros each. According to its website, DIF has the
ability to invest up to 250 million euros in one transaction.
The sources did not disclose the size of the stake that EDF
Invest is taking. EDF Invest - which manages the asset portfolio
covering the group's long-term nuclear decommissioning
commitments - usually takes minority stakes when investing in
infrastructure, real estate and private equity.
Thyssengas, which operates a 4,200 km underground pipeline
network and employs 270 staff, transports up to 10 billion cubic
metres of natural gas per year.
The DIF/EDF consortium beat runner-up Fluxys FLUX.BR from
Belgium as well as Italian peer Snam SRG.MI , First State
Investments, a Chinese group and a consortium of
Luxembourg-based power firm Enovos ENVIL.UL and Swiss Life,
which had also handed in final bids.
In other German grid deals, such as RWE's Amprion sale,
E.ON's Open Grid Europe divestment or later smaller deals like
the EVG Thueringen sale - the buyers usually paid no more than
1-1.2 times the value of the regulated asset base.
The sale of Thyssengas, which Macquarie acquired from German
utility RWE RWEG.DE in 2011, is managed by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)
Merrill Lynch.
($1 = 0.8910 euros)